Demon Dean
by sil9800
Summary: This story picks up immediately after 9x23 "Do You Believe in Miracles." As Dean slowly realizes what's happened and what he's become, Team Free Will is gutted by the loss of Dean's humanity and must figure out how to save him while also dealing with Cas' failing grace. Rated T, for language and violence. All reviews welcome! Updates to follow!
1. Chapter One

Dean bolted straight up in bed, unable to process what he was seeing, or more precisely, HOW he was seeing. It was as if he were wearing glasses with a hint of red or orange tint to them, or like the room was lit like a strip club, which, under normal conditions would be a good thing, but he wasn't in a strip club, he was in his room at the Men of Letters bunker. Uneasy with the unusual light, he reached for the pistol he kept under his pillow with one hand, while gripping the First Blade with the other. Fully armed, he slowly began looking around the room as the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Then in a split-second, he pointed the firearm to his right, and immediately shot off two rounds towards the figure he saw standing there. When that didn't work, he rushed towards it with the First Blade only to see the monster disappear right in front of him.

It was the most hideous looking thing he had ever seen, and yet, it looked somewhat familiar at the same time. Where had he seen a creature like that before? Dean thought as he searched the darkest shadows of his mind. Then it dawned on him... Dean had just seen a demon, but the real question was, why was he was seeing it in its true form instead of whoever it was possessing?

As Dean was trying to sort all this out, the demon reappeared in the same spot, but before Dean could rush at him again he heard him say "Hallo Dean," in the unmistakable voice of the King of Hell himself.

"Crowley?" He asked as he tightened his grip on the Blade and then continued in a stern voice, "What the hell is going on? Why am I seeing your demon face instead of your meat suit?"

In a cautious tone Crowley replied, "Try blinking your eyes for a long second Dean."

Dean shut his black eyes tight then opened them again. "Ok… still butt-ugly though." he said.

Feeling a little more at ease now after seeing Dean's green eyes again, Crowley said "I'm hurt Dean! After all, I won 'most photogenic' in the annual demon beauty pageant just last year."

Dean opened his mouth as if to respond, but Crowley went on. "Now, as for WHY you could see this beautiful mug, I'm afraid that will have to wait since your brother seems to be summoning me from the other room. You're welcome to join us." Crowley said just before he disappeared again.

* * *

With half a fifth of Hunter's Helper saturating his body, Sam lit the match, tossed it into the summoning bowl and waited in the dungeon for Crowley to appear. As he looked around he suddenly felt a presence behind him.

"Hallo Sam." Crowley said, "Sorry if I startled you but I've learned from you Winchester's _not_ to arrive in the devil's trap you've got painted on the floor over there."

With the death of his brother and the Hunter's Helper fueling him, Sam didn't bother warming up to the subject but instead jumped right in and said, "You're going to do whatever it takes to bring him back Crowley! No deals! No nothing! You owe him, and you're gonna bring him back!" Crowley began to say something, but Sam wasn't giving him an inch to argue with, "My brother took that Mark in order to take out YOUR competition, and the bloodlust that resulted from doing your dirty work got him," Sam paused, hardly able to say the words, "has gotten him killed! You OWE him Crowley, and you're GOING to bring Dean back NOW!"

As Crowley saw Dean make his way to the dungeon, he nodded towards the bookcase doors and replied to Sam's rant, "Really Sam, a little late to the party now aren't you?"

Sam turned around and saw his brother standing there between the bookcases and just stared at him in shock until, in a voice just above a whisper, he finally said, "Dean?"

"Yeah, little brother, it's me." Dean said, and Sam rushed to him and embraced him so fiercely Dean thought he might break a rib!

Dean was remembering everything now. He remembered Metatron, and the searing pain he felt as the angel blade pierced his body. And he remembered Sam, admitting that he lied when he said he wouldn't try to save him and then willing him to live with every fiber of his being.

"How are you ALIVE?!" Sam asked.

"I don't know." Dean said and then they looked at Crowley. "How AM I alive Crowley? And why did everything have that glow when I woke up? And why was I seeing your real face?" Dean asked.

"Wait, what?!" Sam said.

"He was there when I woke up, and everything had this weird glow, and I could see his face Sam, his REAL face!" Then under his breath Dean said "And that sonofabitch is UG-LY!"

The boys looked back to Crowley for an explanation, but he just shrugged and said, "Don't look at me boys, I didn't do anything."

"I don't think so," Dean said, feeling his rage beginning to build, "you know something dammit, so if you know what's good for you, you better start talkin', NOW!"

Dean then grabbed the Mark on his arm as it began to burn him with the rage continuing to rise. He looked at Sam as the room began to glow again, afraid of seeing disappointment in his little brother's eyes as he realized Dean could not control what the mark did to him.

Sam fell back against the wall in shock! "Dean!" he said horrified, "Your EYES!"

"What about them?" Dean asked.

"They're BLACK!" Sam said as he thought it was all starting to fall into place. He looked at Crowley and said "Whatever game you _think_ you're playing, you've got ONE SECOND to tell that THING to get the hell out of my brother before I exorcise it straight back to the pit!"

"Not sure I'd do that if I were you." Crowley said.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't!" Sam demanded.

Crowley started pacing, thinking while he was talking and moving towards the opening between the bookcases. "Well first of all, I'm not entirely sure it would even work. And, secondly, even if it did, you wouldn't be sending some piss-ant demon to hell Sam, you'd be sending your brother."

Trying to comprehend what he was hearing, Dean closed his eyes for a second, which thankfully also got rid of his glowing surroundings again. "What the hell is THAT supposed to mean?" He asked.

Facing Crowley dead on, Sam reached behind his back and pulled the demon knife out from the waistband of his jeans and said, "You better start talking right now, beginning with why you were in my brother's room when _he_ supposedly woke up!" Sam said.

Suddenly Sam and Dean looked back to each other again, but for very different reasons. One did so with a knowing look, the other was trying to decide what his brother would do next. Then Crowley began trying to explain by saying "First, I did not know..." but before he could finish, Cas slapped a pair of demon handcuffs around one of Crowley's wrists and began walking to the other side of the room.

"Really Cas, this isn't necessary." Crowley said.

"Way to go Cas!" Dean cheered, but then Cas slapped the other end of the cuffs on Dean's wrist and pushed them both into the devil's trap.

"I'm sorry Sam, I came as quickly as I could." Cas said.

"Wait, why did you put the cuffs on ME?" Dean asked incredulously.

Sam wasn't sure what to think anymore, "You don't know?" Sam asked.

Enjoying the fact that he was the only person in the room that knew what was really going on, Crowley said, "I don't believe he does Sam."

"Dean, try to step out of the trap." Cas suggested.

"What do you mean 'TRY to step out of the trap?' of course I can step out of the trap!" but when Dean hit an invisible wall he said, "What the...?"

"Dean, I don't know how, and I don't know why, but... Dean, I think Crowley's turned you into," Sam could barely form the words "a demon! Your eyes were black, and you can't step out of the devil's trap!"

Dean pulled back with his free hand and swung at Crowley for all he was worth! "What have you done to me!?"

Turning back from the blow that just landed on his chin Crowley said, "You've GOT to start trying to control it Dean! You've got more control over the Mark now. Not ultimate control, but certainly more than you did as a human!"

"Sam, get me my blade!" Dean said.

"What?" Sam asked, barely able to process the conversation.

"My blade Sam! The First Blade is in my room! Get it to me so I can end this sonofabitch NOW!"

"Somebody get this brute away from me!" Crowley yelled.

Having done little until now, Cas felt the need to interject, "That may not be a good idea Dean. My grace is almost completely gone now and Crowley may be the only one that can help at this point."

This was all just too much for any of them to deal with. Sam, Dean, and Cas needed answers from Crowley so they couldn't risk letting him out of the cuffs or the devil's trap in order to get away from Dean and then just disappear. Nobody knew what Dean could or couldn't do, so neither Sam nor Cas were sure if they should let Dean out of the trap. And finally, the boys needed an update from Cas on his grace, as well as what was going on in heaven. Where should they start first? How on earth were they going to sort all of this out?!


	2. Chapter Two

A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews! Being that this is my first attempt at fanfic, the feedback meant the world to me! I also received some off-line feedback suggesting I use a little more exposition and a little less back-and-forth conversation to help the story flow better. Since I was already almost finished with this chapter, I decided to try to work that out in Chapter Three.

Also, please let me know if you find I have classified, organized, or rated anything incorrectly. I think I understand the system now, but if you notice anything that needs to be changed, please don't hesitate to let me know! I've only just figured out that "A/N" was an author's note and that it had to be typed like this, I was going crazy looking for a box thought I was forgetting to fill out somewhere!

All reviews are more than welcome and highly encouraged! They also encourage me to continue writing, so if you like the story (or not) please let me know!

**DISCLAIMER** Sadly, I do not have any ownership stake in Supernatural or the characters portrayed on the show.

* * *

It was at times like this that Sam really missed Bobby! "One thing at a time" he would say, "Prioritize first, and then take it one thing at a time." So that's what Sam set out to do. At that moment, they needed to know what was going on with Dean, and why!

Understandably fearful of him, Crowley insisted "I'm not saying another word until I know he's not going to kill me!" So, feeling relatively sure Dean at least didn't know HOW to disappear yet, Sam released Dean from the demon handcuffs and broke the devil's trap just long enough to get Dean away from Crowley, then sealed Crowley back in.

"Thank you, Moose. Now, as I started saying before, I did not KNOW this was going to happen, it was just an old demon's tale! But as the story goes, Cain tried to take his own life with the First Blade many, many years ago. Only the blade, and the mark along with it, didn't want to let Cain go, and brought him back to life."

"What do you mean they 'didn't want to let him go?' The mark, the blade, they're just 'things,' Crowley, they don't WANT anything!" Sam said.

"On the contrary Sam, the mark was created by Lucifer himself, it was born from the very essence of evil. Take that evil, and combine it with the blood of those that have been killed by the blade, the very blood the First Blade has been drinking in for hundreds of years, and evil indeed begins to have a mind of its own!"

Crowley went on, "I'm sure you noticed Dean wasn't sleeping as much, if at all. I noticed he wasn't eating. So, sitting alone with your dead brother in the other room, I tested the tale and put the First Blade into Dean's hand. The mark and the blade did the rest, bringing your brother back as you see him today."

Resigned to the horror of it all Dean finally asked, "So that's why I see your face? Because…I'm a..." Dean couldn't say it. He just couldn't. His worst fear, the same fear that gave him nightmares years before, had come true.

"A demon, yes Dean, you're a demon now." Crowley said, and the room fell silent as Dean, Sam, and Cas tried to make sense of what made absolutely no sense at all. "That's why I don't think they can exorcise you! You're not possessed Dean, you just ARE!" Still silence, "Oh for crying out loud! At least you're alive! Well, sortof. I should at least get credit for that!"

"Credit? I'll show you the credit you deserve!" Sam yelled as he pulled the demon knife out from behind his back.

Cas grabbed hold of Sam and pulled him away. "Sam, I can't let you kill him for the same reason I couldn't let Dean do it earlier."

"What about the glow? What was that about?" Dean asked.

"Hellfire," Crowley explained, "Your demon eyes see the faint glow of hellfire now."

Stunned. Shocked. Horrified. Sam looked to Cas, looked to Dean, then had to look away, feeling a tear fall down his cheek. It was supposed to be HIM he thought. At just six months old, Azazel had fed HIM his demon blood and he developed psychic powers as a result of it. As an adult, HE was the one that got addicted to demon blood, and drunk with the power it gave him, HE killed Lilith and set the apocalypse in motion. HE was supposed to be Lucifer's vessel, and HE said yes! If ANYONE was meant to be a demon, surely it was SAM!

On the other hand, Sam thought, although Dean was supposed to be Michael's vessel, Dean said no! Dean was the good son, always following their father's orders. Dean raised Sam, usually made the right choices, and almost always for the right reasons. This shouldn't be happening to him! All those times Dean could have given up on Sam, SHOULD have given up on Sam! Like when Sam chose Ruby over his own brother, or when he wouldn't give up the demon blood or stop using the powers it gave him. When he didn't search for Dean while he was in Purgatory, and when he told his brother he wouldn't try to save him if he were dying! For all the times Dean didn't give up on him, he would be damned if he was going to give up on Dean now! Sam vowed to himself right then and there, he was GOING to save his big brother, one way or another! There was nothing he wouldn't do! He was going to get his big brother back!

At this point, Dean figured he'd had about all he could take and was ready to switch gears, "Cas? Sam? How about we head into the other room for a while, hmm?"

Crowley protested, "Guys? GUYS! You're just gonna leave me here? C'mon, I told you everything I know! We're in this together now!" he said as his voice began to fade behind the closed bookcase doors.

"Ok, next order of business is Cas." Dean said.

"Don't you think we should finish talking about YOUR business?" Sam asked.

"It seems to me there's not much else to discuss at this point. I'M DEAD SAM! So until we can figure out what to do about that, as much as I hate it, there doesn't seem to be much else we can do about it right now. Cas on the other hand, may be the one shot we have at healing what Metatron did to me, but looks like his lights are almost out too, am I right Cas?"

"I'm afraid so Dean." then Cas then told them everything that had happened in heaven before he left for the bunker.

"Wait! You mean to tell me, Metatron is still breathing?!" and Dean felt the mark begin to burn again. This time however, he closed his eyes so Sam and Cas wouldn't recoil from seeing them turn black. This was SO hard!

"So many of our kind have died Dean. The killing has to stop somewhere."

"Fine, it can stop right after HE'S dead!" Dean declared.

"Is there any chance of getting your mojo back?" Sam asked.

"I honestly don't know Sam. We haven't had a chance to interrogate Metatron yet."

After expressing his eagerness to interrogate Metatron himself, Dean figured it just wasn't going to happen. They were never going to let him into heaven in his current condition, nor would they let Metatron come to him. Or would they? They've certainly needed his help before! But there was no way Dean was going to get what he wanted unless the angels came to him.

"Alright Cas, I know you'll do the best you can, but when you and the God Squad can't get what you want out of him, you make sure they know my price when they come asking for my help!"

"And what would that be Dean?" Cas asked.

Dean looked straight at him and said, "I'll get what you want out of him Cas. I'll find out about your grace and I'll find out how to open the gates again. Hell, I'll even find out how to get your precious wings back!" Then suddenly Dean noticed the room starting to glow as his eyes narrowed and turned pitch black. "But make no mistake about it Cas, once I'm in the same room with that sonofabitch, he ain't walking back out alive!"

Cas nodded, and in an instant, Dean had disappeared.


	3. Chapter Three

A/N 1: *UPDATE* Not sure if notices go out every time I "update" a chapter (vs. adding a new one), but just in case I thought I would mention here that although I have updated the story with a new summary and cover photo, the chapter itself has only been edited for typographical/grammatical errors.

Also, as I am so new to writing fanfic, if anyone has any ideas on how to get a story noticed by more people, please PM me! I'm really not trying to beg for readers here, I'm just not sure what else I could or should be doing. *END UPDATE*

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A/N 2: I'd like to say thank you again for the kind reviews, they really do mean so much to this very new writer! I'm updating far more often than I thought I would as a result of the encouragement! This chapter is also a bit longer than the others because I just couldn't reach a logical stopping point (I wanted the story to keep going too! Lol)

As I mentioned last time, I've tried to incorporate more exposition in this chapter so the back-and-forth conversations aren't as difficult to read. I hope this improves the quality. I've also brought a much-loved character into the story so I hope you all enjoy that as well!

**DISCLAIMER** Sadly, I do not have any ownership stake in Supernatural or in the characters portrayed on the show.

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Sam ran his fingers through his hair and looked around the room wondering where on earth his brother had disappeared to! He literally could be anywhere! He might not even know where he is himself. He and Cas were so sure that he wouldn't know how to disappear yet that they figured it would be OK to take the demon cuffs off, and now look what's happened! He had no idea what Dean would or wouldn't do as a demon, and THAT'S why he had to find him – fast! Then it dawned on him, the Blade! He ran to Dean's bedroom with Cas trailing right behind. They searched all over, but it was nowhere to be found. Sam had to find his brother and make sure he didn't do anything he would later regret!

With desperation in his voice, Sam asked, "Can you find him Cas?"

Cas sighed and said "With so little grace left, I wouldn't dare to even try, even if he weren't warded. And without my wings, I couldn't find him any faster than you. I don't know, maybe Crowley knows something." So they headed to the dungeon where Crowley had been locked up.

Crowley looked up to find Sam and Cas coming back into the room, without Dean. "Let me guess, family pet ran away?"

"Not even a little funny Crowley, can you find him?" Sam asked.

Exasperated, he shook his head and said "He's got the bloody Mark of Cain gentlemen! I can't just use the demon lojack system to spit out coordinates!" Then he thought about it and said, "However, there is a spell, it's how Dean and I found Cain in the first place, it locates the source of the blade's power, the Mark, but you'll have to let me out of here to get the ingredients, they're very rare and difficult to find."

Sam and Cas looked to each other, but with neither one able to come up with a better idea, Sam grabbed the keys and released Crowley from the demon cuffs and devil's trap.

"Get the ingredients and come right back here to perform the spell!"

"Of course!" Crowley said, and left before they could change their minds.

"There's no way he's coming back." Sam said. "Dean's not going to be found until he wants to be found! Even if the spell could find him, he'll just keep moving around until Crowley finally gives up. That's what I'd do anyway."

Cas sighed, "You're probably right Sam. What do you want to do now?"

"All I know is that I can't give up trying, but we've got to come up with a way to help him when we do find him, so why don't you see what you can get out of Metatron. Maybe if you can get your grace back, and were able to heal Dean of his wounds, he'd want to come back for that. Meanwhile, I'll search the net for signs of where he might be."

"OK, good luck Sam! Pray for me if you need anything and I'll get back here as quickly as I can."

"Thanks, good luck to you too!" Sam said, then added, "Cas? Regardless of what you could do for Dean, I really hope you can get your grace back for YOU too. We need you around man, more than ever!"

That meant a lot to Cas, especially coming from Sam. Cas had always shared a special bond with Dean, but since they had managed to banish Gadreel from possessing Sam, and Dean had taken the Mark of Cain, Cas and Sam had grown close as well. There were times, especially while fighting the war in heaven, that Cas felt the boys only needed him around to do things for them. Of course, they were human after all and couldn't quite comprehend an angelic civil war, but it was nice to feel appreciated, to feel wanted! Not just for what you could do, but for who you were. Cas hadn't always understood that feeling, but his brief time as a human gave him a much deeper understanding of human emotion that his angelic existence could never afford. Now, with his grace almost gone, he was feeling more human every day. On his way back to the portal, Cas wondered what the boys would do without him, in case he wasn't able to solve the problem of his fading grace in time. He understood Sam's desperate drive to save Dean. He felt the same thing, the same need to save Dean's humanity, to save Dean even from himself when necessary.

When Cas arrived in heaven through the portal, Hannah was there to greet him.

"Castiel, what's wrong?" she asked, and got to him just in time to catch him as he collapsed.

* * *

"Time to wake up brother." He heard a familiar voice say as he slowly came to consciousness. When he opened his eyes he could hardly believe what he was seeing! Was he dreaming? Was his mind playing tricks on him? Was HE playing a trick on him?

"Gabriel?" He asked.

"He lives! You had us worried there for a while." Gabriel said.

"What's going on? Where am I? Is this real?" Cas asked as he tried to sit up to look around. He recognized it immediately as the eternal Tuesday afternoon in the heaven of an autistic man that Cas always enjoyed retreating to when he needed to be alone with his thoughts.

"I think you know where you are, I discovered this little gem when I was in your mind, and yes, it's real, I'm real, and you're in real trouble my friend."

"What happened?" Cas asked.

"Well, first, you collapsed, then Hannah put an A.P.B. out on angel radio for anyone that could help, preferably an arch angel with the juice to do whatever needed to be done. I guess I couldn't just let you die, could I? So here we are."

"What did you do Gabriel?"

"Don't get too excited there big boy, I just recharged your grace a bit. It's not a permanent fix, but it'll help for a while." And indeed, Cas did feel better.

"I have to get to Metatron to see if anything can be done to open heaven's gates and get our wings back!" Cas said as he tried to get up out of the hammock Gabriel had laid him in to rest.

"Not to mention your grace Cas, we've got to figure out a permanent way to repair or replace your grace too. Heaven needs you brother, and I'm sure Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum do as well."

Cas wondered if Gabriel knew about Dean, what he had done, what he had become? "You've got to get me to Metatron."

"Relax! Metadork is already being taken care of Cas. Hannah found heaven's best 'specialist,' so to speak. But so far, he hasn't said a word. Supposedly, without Daddy's word juicing him up, he's just another angel, but there's something else going on there Cas. I don't know what it is, but he's able to withstand more than any normal angel would."

Cas thought about that for a long while. He knew what heaven's "specialists" were capable of and he doubted even an arch angel could withstand that kind of torture. Then he thought about Dean and wondered if Metatron would be able to endure HIS particular brand of persuasion.

"Gabriel, I need to tell you about Dean. He may be the only one that can get what we need out of Metatron now." Cas then told Gabriel everything he knew, up to and including Dean's price for extracting the information they needed.

"He did WHAT?! He took the freakin Mark of freakin CAIN? The father of MURDER!" Gabriel whistled through his teeth. "Only a Winchester could think 'nothing left to lose' included his own humanity!"

"We've got to get the angels home Gabriel. They've got no business being on earth. They're confused and they don't know how to live among humans. I've also got an idea about my grace, but again, it all depends on giving Dean access to Metatron."

"Ok then! Well, there's no way the angels are going to agree to allowing a demon to torture one of their own, even if it does help them in the long run, not to mention the angel being Megadouche! So, it sounds like we need to stage a prison break my friend!"

* * *

It had now been weeks since Dean had disappeared, and Sam was becoming more than a little worried. He was frantically searching everywhere for him. He checked out various safe houses they both knew, and some he only suspected. He searched the internet for the use of any of Dean's or Sam's aliases, he looked out for hunts he thought might have interested him, and in sheer desperation, he even went by Lisa and Ben's to peek in there. Nothing! Even Crowley had given up looking for him!

On his way back to the bunker late one night Sam noticed Cas' pimpmobile parked nearby, with two figures inside. He instantly recognized the driver as Cas, the other looked only vaguely familiar. Noooo! It couldn't be!

"Cas!" Sam yelled over to him. "Is that who I think it is?"

Gabriel got out of the car and greeted Sam, "Hey Sam, good to see ya pal! Say, why don't we get ourselves inside your super-secret hidaway so we're not quite as exposed!"

"Gabriel! Yeah, yeah, of course!" Sam said as he led them inside the bunker.

Once inside they caught each other up. It didn't take long for Sam to explain he was no closer to finding Dean than he was when Cas had left him. It took a bit longer for the angels to catch him up on what was going on in heaven.

Gabriel continued, "So Sam, if we're going to break Metatron out of heaven, we're going to need a spell of some kind. We've transferred almost everyone with any thinking power at all away from the prison, but we had to keep some in place to make sure he didn't break out on his own! Those that are left, we're going to have to subdue somehow. Obviously, we don't want to kill any angels getting him out, so we were hoping we could find something in this Wikipedia you've got down here that could help."

And so the researching began. Hours had passed with no luck at all. Sam couldn't help but think how this was usually about the time they would ask Kevin to find something in the Angel Tablet, but Kevin wasn't here anymore, and it was his hands that had caused it. He looked down at those hands and shook his head. Damn he missed that kid!

"I need a break guys, anyone want something to eat?" Sam asked, but of course they both declined. They were angels and therefore didn't need to eat, but Cas had followed him into the kitchen anyway and asked Sam if he was alright.

Avoiding the question entirely, Sam asked his own, "Shouldn't I be asking you that? How's the power-up Gabriel gave you working out?" Sam asked.

"So far so good, I feel good anyway. I haven't really had a chance to test it out since I'm trying to keep a low profile to both preserve the grace that's left and to keep heaven from knowing where I am or what I'm up to. Somehow we've got to get word to Dean though, to let him know we're bringing Metatron down."

"You know what he wants to do Cas, you ok with that?" Sam asked.

"I'm hoping it doesn't come to that, but yeah, if that's what it takes to get the angels where they belong, to open heaven to the dead souls in the veil, and to get my grace so I can help Dean, then Gabriel and I both agree, Metatron brought this on himself."

Just then Gabriel came in, "There you are! Thought maybe you two snuck off for a little '7 minutes in heaven!' None of my business, but if you two think you could pry yourselves away from each other, I think I might have found something!" He pointed to a section of the book he was holding as he handed it to Castiel. "It's a spell that puts angels to sleep for a few minutes. Not permanently of course, and by the sound of it, probably not for very long, but maybe for long enough."

Cas began looking it over when suddenly Sam's phone began to ring, startling everyone. Sam didn't recognize the number, but that wasn't all that unusual so he answered, "Hello?"

"Hey Sammy" came the unmistakable and most welcome voice he had ever heard!

"DEAN! Where are you? Are you OK?" Sam had to force himself to stop shooting questions at him so Dean would have a chance to answer.

"Whoa, slow down there little brother. I'm OK, but I'm not going to tell you where I am, at least not yet. I'll probably be somewhere else by tomorrow anyway. But how are you?"

Exasperated, Sam replied, "I'm fine. Wait, no, I'm not fine Dean! I'm worried about YOU, tell me you haven't done anything that can't be fixed! No, you know what? It doesn't matter because there isn't anything we can't fix together, just tell me where you are man! I'll come get you!"

Gabriel nodded to Cas and whispered "I'm gonna see if I can find the ingredients we need for this spell and give this 3-way bromance some alone time!"

"Now Sam," Dean said, "if I thought we should be together right now it'd probably be a lot easier to just zap myself back to the bunker wouldn't ya think?" Sam couldn't argue the logic in that, but he so desperately wanted to be with his brother again!

"Dean, Cas here!" Cas said.

"Cas! Glad you're there. Hey Sammy, talk about having an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other, huh?!" Dean laughed.

Cas didn't find it amusing. "We need to talk Dean." Cas then went on to explain what he and Gabriel were planning.

"Gabriel huh? So Lucy didn't get him after all. Well good on him, though it probably would have been nice if he had sacked up and helped out a few times over the years! Alright Sam, you gotta get Metatron there just like we did the first time we brought Crowley in, not that he'll ever get out of there alive to tell anyone, but I don't want him trying to hail anyone on angel radio either."

"Of course Dean, does this mean you're coming home?" Sam asked with hope in his voice.

"Are you kidding? I wouldn't miss this for the world! But Sammy, don't get your hopes up about my sticking around – and if anyone tries to get those cuffs anywhere near me or tries to trap me, it'll be the LAST time you see me! I'll call you back tomorrow." Click.


	4. Chapter Four

A/N: Hope everyone is enjoying the story so far! Your reviews have been wonderful and I've been having a great time writing it! Please consider leaving a review, and if you'd like to discuss anything further, feel free to PM me too! I'll also have a brief note at the bottom, so for now… Enjoy!

**DISCLAIMER** I do not have any ownership stake in Supernatural or the characters portrayed on the show, but have the utmost respect for those that do!

* * *

Sitting in the dump of a car he had stolen from across town, Dean hung up the phone. As much as he missed Baby, being able to just zap himself from town to town could be pretty damned convenient! But still clinging to the Blade Dean just sat there, trying to shake the memory of what just happened not even an hour before, out of his head. It had also been the real reason he had called Sam in the first place. It had been so close, he remembered. A man almost died as a result of the bloodlust that raged through every fiber of his being now.

The vamp nest itself was easy, they never stood a chance against the deadly combination of the Mark, the Blade, and his own demonic rage. But the human pet they kept for feeding "emergencies" had stupidly tried to get in the way. Dean assumed he was sympathetic in some twisted, sick kind of way. When he had jumped on Dean's back trying to prevent him from getting to the leader of the nest, Dean had flipped him over the top of his head and onto the ground. In an instant Dean had the Blade within half an inch of the man's beating heart. If another vamp hadn't hit Dean from the side when he did, knocking him over, he would have been dead. Of that, Dean was absolutely certain. It shook him that it had come so close. It wasn't until Dean had already killed four vamps (and severely injured two more that fled for their lives), that Dean even noticed the last one wasn't a vamp at all! With each kill Dean felt a mix of satisfaction that he had brought death to another monster, and excitement and anticipation for the next one in line. The man he'd almost killed had scampered into a corner whimpering. While he watched Dean pummel and decapitate almost every member of his "family," he also witnessed the exhilaration and wild enthusiasm in every one of Dean's movements and outbursts! But as was always the case, what had frightened everyone the most, human and monster alike, was seeing the eyes! The empty and hollow, blacker-than-midnight eyes! After finally realizing he had almost killed a human, Dean was grateful his murderous thirst was satisfied.

Dean walked over to the man squatting down to eye level. He had recoiled; trying to get away, but there was nowhere left to go. Dean looked at him and said "It's OK, I'm not going to hurt you."

"What!? You almost KILLED me!" He said. "You DID kill my family!"

Feeling the anger begin to swell again, Dean shook his head, "IDIOT! They were NOT your family! They were vampires, you're a human. They may have kept you alive, but they also fed off you, used you, and God only knows what else! They were NEVER your family! GOT IT?!"

"And what are YOU?' He asked.

Trying to calm down again, Dean said, "Good question, but all you need to know is that I'm not going to kill you. The reason I'm not going to kill you is because you're human, but, you see these eyes?" The man looked away but nodded, "They look like that because I'm NOT human, see?" More nodding. "Now, there are people out there looking for me that I'm not ready to see yet. So after you walk out of here, I really don't give a crap what you do, except you're not going to tell anyone anything about me. Capisce? No one! Not a doctor, not a shrink, no FBI agents or any other law-types, Got it?" Still nodding. "And if you do… well, then I guess you'll be seeing these eyes again." And with that Dean stood up, walked to the car and drove away… still holding the dripping, bloody Blade.

Not believing the guy could keep his mouth shut, Dean had thought about calling Sam while driving back to the motel – for about the hundredth time. It wasn't like he didn't miss his brother, and he knew Sammy would be worried about him. But Dean needed time to wrap his head around what had happened to him and what he had become. His mind kept flashing between the fear in that man's face earlier when he saw the eyes, and the horror on Sam's face the first time he had seen them. That's what really kept him away. He had to figure out how to live like this, and he couldn't do that with Sam constantly looking at him like that. Sure, Sam would be concerned and worried; Sam couldn't get through a day without being concerned or worrying about something! But what else would be there? Pity? Fear? Contempt? Hate? Probably all of the above and more he thought. But today brought to light the one thing that kept pushing him to return to his brother. He needed a rock! A moral center to grab onto. A light he'd always be able to see, even through the murderous fog his demon eyes painted over everything else. So he finally broke down and called.

After he hung up, Dean got out of the car, entered the motel room, and went to the sink to wash the blood off the Blade. Exhausted from the hunt and the rush that flooded his body as a result, all he wanted in that moment was to shower and crash! He didn't need to sleep anymore, but he did need to decompress and think through his next steps. He opened the safe in the motel room and locked the Blade inside. Turning the shower on, he waited for the water to begin steaming, then undressed and stepped inside, letting all the stress and emotion run down the drain, along with the blood and guts the vamps had left behind.

He was glad he had called Sam, really he was, but the result of that call was the exact opposite of what he had hoped. He wanted to reconnect with his humanity, but knowing that was impossible, he reached out for the next best thing, Sam's. However, after finding out about Metatron and learning he had a chance to end that S.O.B., instead of seeing humanity again; all he could see was every way he wanted to get the job done. He imagined every single possibility he could come up with, including many he could never have even conceived of before.

It wasn't Sam's fault. He had no way of knowing why Dean had called, what had happened, or what he needed. On the one hand, he relished and savored the idea of killing Metatron! On the other hand, he feared it. What would the NEXT big thing be? Would anyone dare to get in the way? Would Cas? Or Sam? Would he hurt them if they did? He couldn't help but wonder if anyone could stop him? Would they try? Even if it meant killing him? Well, someone had tried that already.

He stepped out of the shower towards the mirror and wiped the steam off with his hand and saw his own green eyes staring back at him. "Yeah, let's try to keep them that way for a while this time." He said to the mirror. It was late, too late to travel tonight, so he got dressed and headed out for a drink… or 10.

* * *

After making a run to a local spice shop for the ingredients Cas and Gabriel would need for the spell, it had gotten late and Sam was tired. The angels made their way back to the portal, telling Sam if all went well, they would be back with Metatron the next night. So Sam fixed something for dinner and sat down in front of his laptop to see if he could find Dean by using the number he had called from earlier. The number was traced to a company that manufactured many of the "burner" phones that could be bought at any convenience store. He called the company to see if could get the GPS turned on, but they told him the phone couldn't be located, which probably meant it had been destroyed. The last reported coordinates put it in New York City two days ago, where the phone was purchased and turned on. Knowing Dean, he turned the GPS off immediately and could be anywhere by now, again!

With that realization, Sam closed the computer and headed to the shower before bed. While waiting for the water to warm, Sam did a quick 20 pull-ups on the bar he had installed in the doorway. Rinsing the day's stress away, he reminded himself that he really needed to get inked with an anti-possession tattoo again soon! That led his thoughts back to Dean. Could his brother possess him now? Would he? What other powers does he have? He remembered Ruby saying that she could still remember being human, but that most demons couldn't. He didn't know if Ruby was lying to him about that or not, but if she wasn't, it was comforting to think maybe Dean remembered too. Sam had to believe there was still hope for his brother! They had been through too much together to have it all end now, not like this!

As he stepped out of the shower and dried off he realized he still had so many questions! He wanted to help his brother deal with this and to make plans together to beat this thing! And just like he had done every night since the day his brother died, he vowed that even if it was the last thing he ever did, he was going to save his brother!

* * *

Cas and Gabriel snuck back into Cas' heavenly hiding place with no one the wiser and began planning their mission.

"How are you feeling Castiel?" Gabriel asked, "We don't know what kind of resistance we may run into tomorrow so you need to be sharp!"

"I haven't done anything that I know of to deplete my grace, I've been very careful!" Cas proudly replied, "But come to think of it, I do feel a little tired."

"You've been using it up by just existing on borrowed time brainiac! I better check and if it's as low as I suspect, I'm gonna have to re-charge you. You're conscious this time so you might as well know, this is going to hurt a LOT, which means you're going to need time to recover so I'd better do it now."

With that Gabriel broke off a branch from a nearby tree and gave it to Cas saying, "Here, bite down on this and try not to squirm… or scream… or pass out!"

Cas braced himself against the tree and Gabriel grabbed Cas' shoulder with one hand and reached inside, just below his sternum with the other. Cas' grace began to shine through and then started fading quickly. As Cas' knees began to buckle Gabriel had to work fast. He shoved Cas against the tree knowing he didn't have a second to lose and hoping it would help prop him up. Gabriel's eyes began to glow a bright blue as he worked and shortly thereafter he helped his little brother to the hammock to rest.

* * *

Sam woke at the crack of dawn as usual and changed into his running shorts, sneakers, and a t-shirt. He began warming up by jogging up the stairs and heading outside.

"Ha! You're so damned predictable!"

Sam whipped his head around to see his brother standing there next to the stairs leading up from the bunker's door.

"DEAN!" Sam wanted to embrace his brother, but had no idea if that would be welcomed or not, so he simply said, "I thought you were going to call!"

Without hesitation he replied, "What? Got a hot chick down there you don't want me to see?"

"No! Of course not! When did you get here? And why didn't you come in?" Sam asked.

Dean slapped the wall and said "Warded against all kinds of evil, remember? Guess that includes me now."

Sam just shook his head, "This just isn't right man. This just shouldn't have ever happened."

They both stood facing each other with tears welling in their eyes, letting that statement just hang there in the truth of it. Then they both moved towards each other in the same instant, arms stretched wide. Relieved that neither brother had to act tough, trusting each other enough with their own vulnerabilities, and reassured that the bond they shared would always get them through, the time finally came for these two brothers to embrace each other again!

* * *

A/N: Ahhh! So nice to get the boys back together again! After reading this chapter you may have thought that I went to the other extreme with the exposition, but the story just lent itself to needing to explain a little bit of what Dean had been up to and where the boys' heads were at. I'm probably going to have to take a break tomorrow, but should hopefully publish again on Sunday.


	5. Chapter Five

A/N: Thank you so very much for the wonderful reviews you have been leaving! I'm so glad you have been enjoying the story as much as I have enjoyed writing it! Tomorrow is going to be a busy day for me so I probably won't be able to publish again until Tuesday or Wednesday. If you have any ideas or suggestions of things you would like to see, please feel free to let me know via PM (wouldn't want to spoil anyone in case I'm able to work it in! LOL). Hope you enjoy today's chapter until we meet again...

**DISCLAIMER** I do not have any ownership rights to Supernatural or the characters portrayed on the show, but DO have the utmost respect for those that do!

* * *

Cas opened his eyes feeling refreshed again and saw Gabriel resting against a nearby tree. He walked over, squatted down and attempted a little humor, "Thank you brother, though not for almost killing me."

As usual Cas' humor was lost, so Gabriel replied, "Bro, If I hadn't powered you back up..."

"I know," Cas said with an exaggerated grin and a nudge towards Gabriel, "I was just kidding there."

Gabriel chuckled to himself at the LACK of humor and said "Riiight! Well OK then, you ready for this?" Gabriel asked.

Cas nodded and they made their way to heaven's prison. The head guard on duty was one of the smarter ones they had to leave in place to make sure Metatron didn't break out on his own. Gabriel walked up to him and said "Hey Liam, Castiel here wants to have a crack at Metatron, how's he doing today?"

Liam looked past Gabriel to see Castiel standing there with his hands in the pockets of his trench coat. "Castiel!" he said, "How are you brother? We were all worried about you."

"I'm much better now Liam, thank you. May we see him now?"

"I don't know, they worked him over pretty good today so he's not in very good shape. I'll need to get approval before I can let you go in." Liam stated.

Quietly, Gabriel leaned over and said, "Hey, who do you think fixed up Cas here? I don't want to brag or anything, but I am an archangel ya know. With my juice, we wouldn't let anything happen to him. Besides, Castiel himself isn't fully healed yet; he just wants to talk to him. Surely THAT wouldn't be a problem, right?"

Liam thought about it and suddenly realized that an archangel and heaven's de facto leader wanted something only he could give at the moment. He was in a position of some power here! Maybe they could ALL get something out of this.

Liam motioned for Castiel to step over to the desk where he and Gabriel were standing and said "This job isn't too bad here, but it's not exactly where I want to spend eternity, ya know? So I was wondering, do you think there's any way of maybe getting transferred? I really think I could be useful to the cause at the home office!"

Yep, this guy definitely thinks for himself, Gabriel thought. He looked at Liam and said "Ya know, now that you mention it, I think you may be right! Tell ya what, you let us talk to Metatron alone for a few minutes and we'll see what we can do about getting you transferred. I can't promise the home office, but we can certainly try."

"Thank you, brothers! I'll get him set up in the interrogation room right away."

"Thanks." Gabriel said, "Oh, and Liam? Let's not clue him in on who's coming to dinner, K?" Liam nodded and quickly left.

Cas counted at least 3 other guards walking around with seemingly nothing to do. Trying to avoid eye contact and being noticed, he looked down at the floor and quietly said "We need to get these guys out of here Gabriel. The fewer angels that know we're here the better."

When Liam returned, Gabriel put his arm around the guard's shoulder and said "One more thing Liam, Cas here is a little shy and doesn't really like a lot of attention. You suppose there's any chance we could get those guards over there to another area for a little while?"

Liam immediately tapped into the prison guard frequency of angel radio, and said "Attention: all guards on duty. There will be a surprise prisoner inspection effective immediately! Please report to your charges at once to search them and their quarters. Findings are due on my desk in one hour!"

"Perfect!" Gabriel said, and as they headed to the interrogation room he thought maybe Liam WOULD be good at the home office! Too bad he'll probably be the one taking the blame for what was about to happen.

Cas and Gabriel opened the door to the interrogation room and found Metatron sitting in a chair with his head hung down to his chest. He was bloody and dirty from the obvious beatings and other forms of torture he had endured. Without the strength to even look up he said, "So, what's the plan to get me out of here Castiel?"

Gabriel was certain Liam hadn't said anything to Metatron about their visit, therefore he was stunned that Metatron had correctly guessed what was about to happen and even more surprised that he assumed Cas was the one doing it. Cas however didn't look surprised at all! What the hell was going on?

"Time for you to take a little nap Metatron." Cas said as he grabbed the larger of three spice bags out of his trench coat and began reciting the incantation. He blew the entire contents into Metatron's face while Gabriel put a bag over his head. Cas then gave Gabriel one of the two remaining spice bags while they positioned themselves under Metatron's arms and began dragging him out of the room.

With all the guards busy with the "surprise inspection," they had a clear shot to the hallway leading to the portal. Right before turning the last corner, they sat their prisoner down on the floor against the wall, turned the corner and walked over to the angels guarding the portal. "Gentlemen," they said to the guards simultaneously, and when the guards turned around, Cas and Gabriel sucker punched them into the wall behind them. As the guards struggled to get up, the spice bags were opened and they began reciting the incantation. Just as the guards were getting ready to return blows Cas and Gabriel emptied the spice bags over the guard's heads and watched them fall to the ground.

"We make a pretty good team Gabriel!" Cas said.

"We're not out of the woods yet baby bro, so let's just get back to Metatron and get out of here!"

* * *

Sam and Dean walked into the bunker and headed downstairs together. Dean went straight for the bourbon and asked "You mind?"

"It's 7:00 in the morning!" Sam said incredulously.

Pouring it into a glass anyway Dean said, "And I haven't slept in over two weeks Sam, so I'd say alcoholism is about the least of our concerns right now."

He moved to the table and sat down facing his brother and asked, "Are you sure you don't mind my being in here? I'd understand if you didn't know if you could trust me."

"Honestly Dean, it's not a question of whether or not I CAN trust you, it's more like whether or not I SHOULD. I mean, we've hardly spoken at all since the night..." Sam voice trailed off.

"Look, if we're gonna talk about this, then obviously we gotta be able to say it out loud. I'm a demon now Sam. Let's just call it what it is and get it out there."

Sam sighed, trying to find the wherewithal to say the words, "Ok, you're a demon, but what does that mean for YOU Dean? We've dealt with a lot of demons over the years and not a single one was exactly like another. So, what is being a demon like for YOU?"

"I'm not sure how to explain it so that you can understand Sam. I can remember being human and what that was like, and this isn't anything like that. I can still feel emotions, but when I do, they're very intense. For example, when we were outside earlier, that was real! But it was also rare because usually my emotions run very dark. I feel a lot of hate, and a lot of rage! And like I said, they're intense! They can completely consume me sometimes, blinding me to everything else if I'm not careful."

"How do you handle that?" Sam asked, "What do you do to be careful?"

Thinking about that for a minute, Dean got very quiet, looked down at his feet and said "I'll be honest Sam, it's been a learning process, and I've made some mistakes along the way. I've done things I'm not proud of." Then he looked back up to his brother and said, "But I've also learned that to have any control, I have to make a plan and stick to it. That way I can focus on the task at hand and not lose myself to that madness."

Sam sat with that for a minute. Whatever mistakes his brother made, they'd deal with them, so in order to do that he had to ask:

"What have you been doing Dean? Where have you been?"

"Would you believe hunting?" Dean laughed, "In fact, you almost caught up with me in East Point!"

"The ghoul in Wyoming? That was you?" Sam remembered reading about a family that had been killed in East Point, Wyoming and after digging deeper, discovered several graves and corpses had been destroyed there as well. Since they hadn't hunted a ghoul in a while, he thought it might've gotten Dean's attention too, so he headed out to the victims house.

"Yep, right after I finished him off I heard Baby's purr outside as you pulled up to the house. I looked out the window and saw you walking up to the front door, so I zapped my ass out of there pronto!"

"Why didn't you wait for me?" But Sam was pretty sure he knew the answer.

Dean got real quiet again and said, "You saw that thing Sam, you know what I did." In fact, in was a scene Sam was sure he'd never be able to forget as long as he lived. By the time the end finally came for that ghoul, Sam was sure it was grateful.

The ghoul had started on the corpses, but then must've developed a desire for live food and devoured an entire family, including two kids. Now that he knew it was Dean, Sam was sure that must have been what set his brother off. There was blood and gore and body parts everywhere, in every room, and on every wall. Sam could tell the direction from which the body parts were severed by the splatter on the walls and where the limbs came to rest. A hand in one room, forearm in another, a calf here, a thigh there, piece by piece was hacked away until all that was left was the head and torso. However, being that the only way to kill a ghoul is by decapitation or severe brain injury it lived on in what must've been torturous agony. Sam had followed the blood trail throughout the house until he found the corpse in the living room. The torso had been mutilated beyond recognition and a final gush of blood had escaped from the neck where the head had finally been severed.

"That was the first time I tried to hunt as a demon. Before that I was just running around zapping myself from town to town trying to stay ahead of you and Crowley and trying to wrap my head around what was going on inside me. I completely lost control on that hunt, so I couldn't exactly stick around and face you right after I had done that Sammy." Pouring another drink Dean continued, "I mean, the dick had it coming after gorging on that entire family! But I didn't just end the thing Sam, I destroyed it, inside and out! And the really sick part was that I ENJOYED it!"

* * *

The only part of the plan that was left to chance was leaving Metatron in the hall while Cas and Gabriel dealt with the portal guards. Although they had given him a double dose of the ingredients in the sleeping spell, there was no way to know for sure if that would have the desired effect. When they turned the corner to where they had left him, they stopped dead in their tracks.

"Thank God!" Cas said. Metatron was still slumped over on the floor exactly where they had left him. They got under his arms again and dragged him into the portal to get back to earth as quickly as possible.

It was now early evening and after dumping Metatron in the backseat of the car, the angels took a minute to catch their breath. "Wings Castiel! He doesn't die until we get our wings!" Gabriel said.

When they got into the car, Cas called Sam to let him know they were on their way. Surprised to find out Dean was already there, he told Sam it was imperative that he talk to Dean first before the interrogation began. Having learned what his brother was now capable of, Sam couldn't have agreed more, so they hung up expecting to see each other again in about thirty minutes.

* * *

"That was Cas." Sam said.

"I figured. Any surprises?"

"Only that you were here," Sam laughed nervously, "but the mission itself went well. They got him out, and they're bringing him here. Heaven's probably putting it all together as we speak so they're busting tail to get here as fast as they can. Once they're here of course, no one will be able to trace their location thanks to the bunker."

"OK sounds good, now quit beating around the bush Sam, what don't you want to tell me?"

Sam sighed and figured it was better to just come right out with it. "About what you were saying before: Dean, you were right. That ghoul did have it coming, and don't get me wrong here because Metatron does too! But like you said yourself, we need to come up with a plan to get the job done right! We have to find out what he knows first Dean, and you can't let the rage and the hate you've got inside get the better of you before we find out! Now, Cas says he needs to talk with you before you get in the room with him, so I suggest we let them get Metatron inside and get him restrained and secured before he even knows you're here. Then we can all sit down and come up with a plan, whatever you need to keep it together and stay focused on getting the job done okay? Then we can take it from there."

Dean was getting wound up just anticipating the impending pleasure of inflicting unimaginable agony, so of course he knew Sam was right. A deal's a deal, and he promised Cas if they let him kill the sonofabitch, he would get the information they needed from him first.

Dean threw his hands up in surrender and said, "OK Sam, when you're right, you're right. I'll tell you what, I'm even gonna do you one better and just not be here at all when they arrive. Why tempt fate, right?"

"Really?" Sam said as more of a statement than a question.

"Yep, I'll run out for a little while and pick up some things. You said they'd be here in 30 minutes? How about I come back in an hour?

Stunned that Dean was taking this so well Sam said, "Yeah, that should work. You sure you're alright with this?"

"Tell ya what, you let me take this bottle of "Hunter's Helper" with me and we'll call it deal."

Dean stuck his hand out and Sam reached for it with his. They shook on it and with his arm still stretched, Dean vanished right in front of his eyes. Sam half snickered and said to himself "He must love that shit!"


	6. Chapter Six

A/N: Welcome Back! Thank you all for the encouraging reviews and PMs and tweets! (btw, you can find me on twitter at SPN_sil). Sorry it's been a few days since I've posted, but I've been extremely busy and this next "section" was very difficult to write. It turned out so long that I've broken it up into two chapters to give you bit of a coffee break if you so desire, lol.

I Hope you all enjoy these next two chapters and please consider leaving me a review on one or both of them, letting me know what you think or what you liked in the story! THANKS!

**DISCLAIMER** I do not have any ownership stake in Supernatural or the characters within the show, but have the utmost respect for those that do!

* * *

Sam went upstairs to help Cas bring Metatron inside. "Did you run into any problems getting here?" he asked the angels.

"No, but they know what's happened now." Cas said. "Angel Radio has so much chatter we had to turn it off. Everyone's looking for us."

"Well, this bunker will keep us hidden for as long as we need it to. Is he awake yet?" Sam asked.

"No," Cas said, "at least he hasn't said anything yet." Then he looked around and just in case Metatron was listening asked, "Um, where's our 'friend?'"

Sam opened the door to the backseat where Metatron lay stretched out and started to pull him out. "Not here, but he'll be back soon."

After they got to the dungeon, Gabriel removed the bag from Metatron's head while Sam sat him in a chair surrounded by a ring of holy oil and splashed some water on his face.

Metatron blinked a few times and rubbed his eyes, looking up to see the three of them standing there, "Hello Castiel. Gabriel. And Sam, so good to see you again."

"Suck it Metatron!" Sam said as he struck a match and set the oil on fire. Turning back to Cas and Gabriel he asked, "You're sure he can't just blow it out again, right?"

Gabriel answered, "Nope, without Daddy's little power grid, he should stay put until someone either snuffs out the fire, or snuffs him."

"Really gentlemen, we all know what this is about. No one has killed me yet, so I don't imagine anyone is going to. All the torture in the world hasn't gotten me to talk, so it seems to me, we've come to a bit of an impasse."

Sam's phone rang and seeing it was Dean said "I wouldn't be so sure of that."

Sam went to talk to Dean while Cas closed the bookcase doors on Metatron, still surrounded by the holy fire. With questions still floating in his head, Gabriel asked Cas if they could talk in the main room, privately.

"Sure, What do you need to talk about brother?"

"Yeah, speaking of 'brother,' I think I've been an alright brother haven't I? I mean yeah, I may have faked my own death and run from Lucy, but since I've been back, I've been a good brother, right?"

"Of course! Without you I surely would have died by now, and I couldn't have gotten Metatron out of prison without you. Why are you asking Gabriel?"

"Then perhaps you wouldn't mind explaining to me how in holy heaven Metatron knew YOU were coming to break him out?! And what did he mean when he said "we all know what this is about?"

"I'd kinda like to know the answer to that myself!" Dean said as he walked into the room with Sam, and a duffle bag slung over his shoulder.

"Dean, how are you my friend?" Cas asked reaching out to shake his hand.

"I'm fine Cas," he said accepting the handshake and a brief bro-hug. Then turned to Gabriel, "And you! Where the hell have you been while we've been busting our asses trying to save this God-forsaken planet?"

"Good to see you again too Dean. And to answer your question, although I haven't been taking on any evil curses and damning my soul for eternity like some people I know, I've been around." Gabriel said.

"Alright," Dean said, "let's get down to business. Tell me what you need me to get out of him, and everything I need to know before I go in there."

Dean, Sam, and Gabriel sat down at the table while Cas stood and paced around the room discussing the matters at hand. Although everyone knew the agenda, it was important to lay it out again for Dean. Everything depended on him. So once again Cas explained that the first priority was opening heaven's gates in order for the remaining earth-bound angels to return home and so the reapers can get back to work crossing over the lost souls in the veil. Secondly, the angels needed their wings back so they could fly home immediately. And finally, Cas needed a solution to the problem of his fading grace.

"Our top priority however, needs to be getting heaven in working order again. Once that's done..." Cas tried to continue but his knees began to buckle and he had to grab the edge of the table to keep himself standing. Dean jumped up to help his friend to the nearest chair.

"I don't think so Cas," Dean said, "we're going to get your grace back one way or the other, and we're going to do it sooner rather than later! Gabriel, can you juice him back up again?"

"Yeah, I can do it, but it's gotten to where I need to let everyone know something and just for the record, I was hoping I wouldn't have to bring this up at all. However, keeping Cas alive, isn't so much a matter of re-charging his grace as it is actually giving him some of mine, so each time I do, I'm weakening myself at the same time." He then looked at Cas and said, "Now don't go looking at me like that with those baby blues, let's not forget I'm an archangel OK? I've got the extra juice to give; it's just the more I give away, the longer it takes to get back to my original factory settings."

Sam began to think out loud now, "OK, the two of you have pretty much done all the heavy lifting up till now getting Metatron out. Gabriel, if you think he'll be ok for a while, why don't you hold off and just watch him for signs of trouble, but don't hesitate for a second if you think he needs it! Cas, you can grab one of the rooms in the back and just take it easy for a while."

Gabriel wasn't sure, "And what if Dean needs something while he's in there with Metatron? Not for nothing Sam, but I may be the only one around here that can hold him back!"

Yeah, Dean thought, like that's gonna happen, "Hello! Standing right here!" he said. "I'll be fine Gabriel, and 'not for nothing,' but if I get lost in there, it's gonna be Sam with the only shot in hell of reaching me!"

"Dean, how about you help me get settled in back?" Cas asked.

Realizing this was the "alone time" Cas wanted with Dean before the interrogation began, Sam took the hint and grabbed Gabriel's arm, preventing him from getting up to join them. "Let's give them a few minutes."

"I don't like this Sam. There's something going on Cas isn't sharing with the rest of the class." Gabriel said.

"You're probably right, but I trust Cas alright? Look, he said he wanted to talk to Dean before the big event, so whatever IT is, it's probably what they're talking about right now."

"And you think Dean can handle this? You're not worried he's just going to murder the guy right out of the gate?" Gabriel asked.

"Worried? Sure, but I don't think he will, no. Do I think it's going to be dicey? Probably, I'm sure he couldn't give two craps about what's going on in heaven or what's needed up there, but I do know he wants to help Cas, and Dean keeps his word."

"Correction bucko, Dean used to keep his word! Who's to say this new "Demon Dean" will do the same?"

Without hesitation Sam said, "Even Crowley keeps his word Gabriel, and there's no way that ANY version of my brother would allow Crowley to best him at anything!"

* * *

"Alright Cas, you don't need me to show you where the bathrooms and bed sheets are, so what did you want to talk to me about without the others around?" Dean asked.

"It's about my grace Dean. I think I know where it is, and how to get it back – permanently." Then, in the most soothing monotone he could muster, Cas began telling Dean what he suspected and why, knowing it would anger his friend. Dean saw the light shifting again and felt his rage starting to build. He instinctively held the Mark on his forearm anticipating the impending burn.

"That sonofabitch! All this time Cas?" Dean asked.

Sitting on the edge of the bed looking up at Dean, Cas backed away when he saw his friend's eyes turn black. Realizing what had happened, Dean stepped back as well, then looked away, hoping that would put the angel at ease. "Dammit, I'm sorry Cas. I'm sorry you have to see me like this, but I promise I'm not going to hurt you! I hope you can somehow believe me!"

"I do believe you Dean, but I can't pretend it doesn't bother me. It's chilling and frightening, and it hurts to see you like this because I know how distressing it must be for you too. But as an angel, I can feel your intent as well, and although you plainly intend to kill, I see that you don't intend to kill me."

Well, he could at least be grateful for that much, Dean thought as his eyes shifted back to green. "You ready to make the introductions?"

"Ready if you are." Cas replied and they headed down for what was sure to be an uncomfortable night ahead for everyone involved, but none more than Metatron!

* * *

Cas slid open the bookcase doors and saw Metatron still sitting in the chair surrounded by holy fire.

"Are we finally ready to play "Let's Make a Deal" Castiel?" Metatron asked.

"I'm afraid the time for deals has passed." Cas replied, "You've had your chance for that and remained stubborn in your refusal to restore heaven."

Raising his voice now, Metatron said, "Did you think I was going to give away the store in return for NOTHING? I'm not stupid Castiel, you're the only one that can guarantee my safety to live in peace and keep the angels from throwing me back in prison."

"It's not the angels you should be worrying about Metatron. I'm sure it will sound like one of those stupid stories you put in my head, but I'm only going to ask this one time. You know what we want, and this is the only time we're going to ask."

Thinking he still had some chips to bargain with Metatron replied, "Or what Castiel? You're not going to kill me because one, the angels won't allow it, two, the answers you seek would die with me, and three, if you kill me, you and I both know, you'd just be killing yourself!"

"So that's it then. You're not going to do the right thing by your brother's and sister's unless you're set free, is that it?"

Metatron narrowed his eyes and sarcastically replied, "Yeah, That's it 'brother.'"

Cas sighed, "I'm sorry you feel that way, and I wish you would listen to reason. But since that's not going to happen, just remember in the time you have left, that you had your chance and that you brought this on yourself." Cas stepped outside bookcase doors and turned around to face Metatron again, "You are right about one thing though, I'M not going to kill you," then he looked to his right, and back to Metatron, and said, "But HE WILL!"


	7. Chapter Seven

A/N: Brace yourself, because here it comes! This was SO difficult to write for obvious reasons. I hope I was able to write this in a way that shows the dichotomy of hero and villain that Dean is desperately struggling with inside.

One more thing, there was something that happened on the show that I didn't really love, so I decided to take a little creative liberty here and wrote a slightly alternate version. I'm sure you can pick it out and I hope you won't mind.

I hope you enjoy the story, or if you can't exactly enjoy it, I hope you can continue to love these characters right along with me as the story continues to unfold.

**DISCLAIMER** I do not have any ownership stake in Supernatural or the characters within the show, but have the utmost respect for those that do!

* * *

Dean walked out from behind the bookcase and into Metatron's view as Cas walked away. Coming face to face with the angel that killed him, Dean felt his upper lip twitch, and a growl began to crawl from his gut into the back of his throat. His fist opened and closed, instinctively longing for the grip of the First Blade in his hand. He struggled to remind himself to keep his base instincts in check. He had to focus; he had a job to do: he had to save his friend.

Still sitting in his chair with holy fire still burning around him, Metatron said, "No, I thrust that blade into you myself! You couldn't have survived that!"

Dean closed the doors behind him and threw his duffle bag to the floor, "And here I thought you knew all the good stories. I can't tell you how happy it makes me to be able to share a new one with you tonight!"

Clearly rattled and unable to accept his failure, Metatron said, "Whatever you people are trying to sell, I'm not buying it. I overcame the Mark of Cain and the First Blade and killed you with the Word of GOD fueling me!"

Dean said nothing as he reached into his duffle bag to pull out a pair of handcuffs.

"Demon handcuffs?" Metatron scoffed, "Really, I'm an angel moron! Even without the Word of God, those won't be able to hold me!"

Dean began walking around the burning circle of holy fire, staring down Metatron, like a lion stalking its prey, savoring the dance of intimidation. "I've got a question for you Metatron. Do you have any idea what hellfire is good for?" Metatron pretended to be bored and shook his head, but being the scribe of all the tablets, he indeed had a few ideas. Dean continued, "Honestly, I didn't think it was good for much, but recently I found out that it is good for at least one thing. Evidently it can melt things down that, under normal circumstances, could not be destroyed. Things like, oh I don't know, things like angel blades for example." Dean paused but then said with a wicked grin, "These aren't demon cuffs 'moron,' these are ANGEL cuffs!"

Not wanting to reveal his new existence just yet, Dean walked behind Metatron, still sitting in the chair and defiantly facing straight ahead. He then pointed to the holy fire with his finger and slowly moved his hand to the right. The fire began extinguishing itself along the same path leaving a two foot gap that Dean was able to step through in order to slap the cuffs onto Metatron's wrists. "Go ahead, give it your best shot." Dean commanded.

Metatron tried to whip around to see what was happening, but Dean had released the fire to burn again and was out of the circle before Metatron could say, "Wait, how did you do that? How did you get in here to get those on me?"

Walking back around again, Dean said, "I've got some new tricks up my sleeve. Now go ahead, you might as well at least try to break free."

Metatron closed his eyes and summoned every ounce of grace he had inside and concentrated on breaking free with nothing to show for it.

Clearly spooked Metatron said, "Doesn't matter, just ask your friends out there, if I can survive what the angels did to me, I can withstand anything YOU can throw at me boy!"

Dean hated being called a "boy" but he had the upper hand and he knew it, so he kept his cool. "Yeah, I heard something about that. Seems you've got a little something extra inside that ugly vessel there that gives you strength to survive injuries most angels would die from. That's actually pretty good news for me. I just love a challenge!" Dean paused, "You're done being tortured by angels Metatron," and as he said it, the corners of his lips began to rise, revealing a faint, but distinctly evil smile, "they don't have near my creativity!"

With that, the time had come to reveal himself. Dean stuck his hand out towards the holy fire and slowly lowered it towards the ground, extinguishing the flame completely. He then walked up to and stood over Metatron, holding his chin in his hand, forcing Metatron to look up at him. Dean blinked his eyes for a long second, revealing the pitch black eyes beneath and said, "Now, let's have some FUN!"

* * *

Sam poured a drink and asked the angels, "What do you think is going on in there?"

"I'm not sure I want to know." Cas said, "Let's just be grateful it's quiet for the time being."

"I know what we're doing tonight is important, but we have to figure out a way to save Dean too. I've been thinking about that last trial, when I was trying to cure Crowley. I don't know if it will work on Dean, but it might be worth a shot."

The angels agreed it was worth looking into and then Gabriel looked to Cas and said, "I think it's time bro."

Cas stood up and said, "Sam? Since we can't communicate on Angel Radio here, Gabriel and I are going to take a drive for a few minutes."

"Yeah, no problem. See ya in a few." Sam said.

Cas got behind the wheel and Gabriel sat in the passenger side as they drove down the road. Thinking about the trial and how they could save Dean, something dawned on Gabriel, "Hey Cas? What ever happened to that Demon Tablet anyway?"

* * *

"So it really is you." Metatron said, "But as much as I'm sure you'd like to, you're NOT going to kill me. You heard what I said to Castiel. If you kill me, all the secrets your friends want to know will die with me, not to mention your little guardian angel too."

Dean was waiting for this. "Looks like we need to get something straight, Metatron." He then bent over to speak directly into his ear and in a cold, but calm voice said, "Just so there's no misunderstanding, you're GOING to die." Dean stood back up and started circling again, "I mean, why do you think they brought you to ME? Oh, you were right about the other angels not wanting you dead, but the don't know where you are! The only angels that have any clue where to find you are the ones that brought you here. And do you know what those angels are doing right now? They're on Angel Radio telling the winged wusses that they had heard about a plot to kill you because you wouldn't talk. So they had no choice but to kidnap you in order to keep you safe. But OH NO! The big bad 'Demon Dean' tragically intercepted them on their way to safety, and… POOF! No more Metatron for anyone to worry about and no one gets blamed."

Dean walked over and leaned in as if to whisper into his ear again, but instead, he screamed, "ARE YOU GETTING THE PICTURE NOW?!" Dean kicked the chair out from under Metatron and he scrambled to get up. Knowing that he could not resist Dean's powers due to the angel cuffs, he forcefully pushed his hand through the air, sending Metatron sliding across the floor into the opposite wall.

Dean held him there from seven feet away and began crossing the room towards him. "The only thing you MIGHT have any control over now is WHEN you die. THAT'S IT! You thought you had all the cards because you were the only one with all the answers, you smug little sonofabitch! But I've got news for you. The angels? They're adjusting, it might take a little longer than they'd like, but they're making their way to the portal and adjusting to life without wings. Eventually someone will come up with a new spell to open heaven, or a new way to get souls upstairs from the veil. And Cas? He's a dead man walking. He knows it and I know it. So that just leaves you and me, and an eternity between us to express just how much all of that PISSES ME OFF!" and then Dean flung him again to the opposite side of the room, practically destroying the wall he smacked into in the process.

Stunned by Dean's strength and the powers he could use against him, Metatron heard Dean snap his fingers. he looked up and saw two tables had appeared in the room, one only slightly smaller than the other. The larger one looked like a surgical table with drain tracks running along the sides, and posts on each of the four corners. Metatron watched Dean as he reached into his duffle bag and brought out what looked like a simple hunting knife.

"You should really take a look at this." Dean said as he took it over to him. Metatron just sat there trying not to show his fear. "It's really nothing too fancy, just a little hunting knife, see?" With Metatron's hands still bound by the angel cuffs, Dean held the knife up to his eyes so he could get a good long look. Dean then pressed the knife to Metatron's leg and sliced a two-inch gash. Metatron let out a muffled yelp trying not to reveal how much it hurt. "Hurts don't it? That little nick told you everything you need to know too. You can feel what it's made of can't you?" Dean asked, and Metatron nodded. "Yep, melted down angel blade!"

Dean went back to his bag and started pulling out more "tools of the trade" as he called them, one by one, inspecting them in the light, and laying them on the smaller table to the left of the larger one. Some had pointed ends, others were duller and rounder. There were some with sharp, smooth sides, and others had jagged edges with burrs. There was every sort of hand-held weapon and instrument one could imagine, and a few scarcely imaginable ones as well. And they were all forged from angel blades. Metatron sat horrified, unable to do anything while bound in the angel cuffs, and watched Dean, and his black eyes, prepare in silence, practically salivating with the anticipation.

Metatron kept trying to talk to Dean. First, he tried to bluff his way into making Dean believe he wasn't as terrified as he was. He said he didn't believe he was really going to kill him, and he vowed that he would kill Dean all over again the second Cas, or Gabriel, or Sam had enough of what he was doing and released him. That just made Dean laugh. Then he tried to stand up and rush at Dean, only to get slammed back into the wall when Dean raised his hand and then went back to business. Finally he tried to make a deal, any deal, Metatron tried every deal he could think of that he was willing to make, but he was ignored every time.

Once the table was completely filled with every conceivable instrument of evil, Dean pulled out a gun and said, "Time get you to the table. You can walk over, or I can move you myself, your choice. Oh wait, you don't have anymore choices!"

Dean lifted his hand again and Metatron lifted off the floor. Dean flung his hand to the right, and Metatron flew into a wall. Then Dean flipped him in the air and up to the ceiling in the middle of the room above the table and then back down on top of it. By this time Metatron had a broken arm and a badly twisted ankle, but Dean grabbed three more pairs of angel cuffs and attached Metatron's limbs to each corner of the table as he cried out in pain.

It was all starting to swell inside him now. The exhilaration of anticipating the inevitable, and the high from impending death. "I've been looking forward to this for a long time. You're MY bitch now and I'm going to enjoy every minute, and every scream, and every single drop of blood!"

Metatron began begging, "You DON'T have to do this! I'm willing to work something out with you! I'll give you whatever you want! Anything! Just let me go free and I'll give you the spell to open heaven, and I'll tell you how to give the angels new wings! Just let me go and you can have it all!"

Dean pretended to think about it, but he knew Metatron was holding out, and he knew Metatron wasn't going to make THAT deal until he was ready to die. "Hmm, that's tempting," he said as he walked around the table, "But no dice. I told you dickbag, you're going to die."

Dean waved the gun around again and said "I'm assuming you know what these bullets are made of." He placed the barrel of the gun directly on Metatron's right thigh and closed his eyes to listen to the sound of Metatron begging him not to do it, then fired an angel blade bullet into his leg and repeated the whole process again with the other one. Point. Focus. Listen. Fire.

Metatron was screaming in agony when Dean heard Sam banging on the bookcase doors, bringing him out of his demonic temptations to start on the shoulders next. Dean sighed and said, "Hang in there Metatron, I'll be right back!" as the screaming continued.

Dean walked over and opened the doors, revealing Sam's worried face. Gotta love that face, he thought to himself.

"Dean! What's going on? He's screaming bloody murder in there, LITERALLY. Are you OK?" Sam asked.

"Sam, did you think we were going to have tea and crumpets and he would reveal all his secrets in the first 5 minutes? I'm fine, he's, not so fine."

"SAM!" Metatron yelled, "SAM! HE'S GOING TO KILL ME! DON'T LET HIM KILL ME SAM OR CAS IS GOING TO DIE!"

Dean calmly said, "Excuse me a minute." and left the door open while he walked over to the table where Metatron was still screaming. With a motion of his hands five different blades began to rise up from the side table and floated over to Metatron, stopping when they were directly over his body. The blades tilted until they pointed directly underneath. With an raised and angry voice Dean looked down at Metatron on the table and said, "Now shut your cakehole or I'm going to lose my focus and these things are going to FALL DOWN!" and with that every blade dropped about two inches and Metatron loudly whimpered in an effort to stifle his screams.

Dean walked back over to Sam who just stood there in shock, completely stunned by what he had just seen. "Dean, maybe I should stay in here for a while. I'm worried about you, are you sure you can hold it together?"

"Sam, I'm OK. I'll admit, it was getting a little intense there for a while and I'm glad you came to check on me, but no, I DON'T want you in here for this. He's close Sam! I'm close! I've gotta save Cas man, something good has GOT to come out of being what I am now! You've got to let me do this, and I can't do it with you in here." Seeing that Sam wasn't completely convinced he said, "Tell you what, if I haven't called Cas in here within 20 minutes, come back to check on me then. Deal?"

Sam hesitated but said, "OK Dean, but I'm going to be listening."

Dean sarcastically replied, "OK Sam, but I'm going to soundproof it." Then he snapped his fingers as Sam watched insulation appear on the walls the doors close.

And the screaming began again.


	8. Chapter Eight

A/N: First I want to thank the reviewers VERY much for all the kind words you've shared. Secondly, I would like to welcome all the NEW followers, and than them for joining in on the fun! Please feel free to leave a review or PM me anytime! I'm so happy to have you with us!

Sorry it took me a few days to post a new chapter. We're trying to find a place to move to so I had to run around a lot looking at places. Hopefully I've made up for it with an extra-long chapter. If it's too long, please let me know and I'll try to pace them a little better, or break up the longer ones into separate chapters like I did with Chapters 6 & 7.

Now, let's get on with the story!

**DISCLAIMER** I do not have any ownership stake in Supernatural or any of the characters within the show, but I have the utmost respect for those that do!

* * *

Killing is actually the easy part. One thrust into Metatron's heart with any of the weapons he had forged from angel blades and it would finally be over. His mind was begging him to do it, his body literally ached for it, and his demonized soul lusted after it. Instead, he sat in the corner of the room, shaking, gritting his teeth, desperately fighting with himself to stay in control, until he was sure he could continue with the task at hand. NOT killing is the hard part.

Dean walked over to Metatron, who was still restrained on the table, knowing this would be the last time he'd be able to do so without killing him. "Ready to start again?"

Metatron tried to speak but all Dean could hear was a single word: "Please."

"Did you want to say something?" Dean asked pouring some water down Metatron's throat so he could speak, hoping he was finally ready to cave.

Metatron gulped the water, trying not to let a single drop fall out of his mouth and then he pleaded, "Please. Kill. Me."

"You know I'm not going to do that, yet. We've got nothing but time Metatron, lots and lots of time." Dean said hoping that would push him a little further.

A tear fell out of Metatron's eye as he contemplated everything he had been through times hundreds of years. He softly cried, "It's too late. Even if Castiel is still alive, I'm too weak." He searched his mind for anything that might convince Dean to finish him off. Then he remembered something Dean said before this nightmare began, "You said I might be able to choose when I die. Please, I choose now. I'm begging, I'll do anything!"

Dean turned away, as if to grab another tool, and closed his eyes, grateful that it seemed the time had finally come, then turned around again and said, "I almost forgot about that. I did say that I MIGHT give you that one choice. Alright Metatron, just for hell of it, I'm going to give you ONE chance! Save Cas and tell the angels what they need to know and I'll put you out of your misery, that's the deal." Dean paused for a second and then added, "But if you don't, you have my word, you WILL live to regret it, every single hour of every single day, for centuries!"

"I can't!" Metatron whimpered and cried, "I'm not strong enough anymore!"

"You just let me worry about that. Now, do we have a deal?"

"Yes!" Metatron said, "Yes, anything to end this!"

"Alright, you better not make me regret this! I'll need a few minutes. Don't go anywhere!" Dean laughed under his breath as he walked to the doors, "Not that you could."

Sam jumped up from where he was sitting just outside when he heard the doors finally open. He looked at his brother with concern, and worried about what he was about to find out. Did he get the answers they needed? Was Metatron still alive? And most importantly, was his brother OK? Or had he crossed a line where they would never be able to reach Dean's humanity again?

"How's Cas?" Dean asked.

"Not too good. They had to leave to get on angel radio and that took a lot out of him. Gabriel wanted to help but he insisted on waiting until we heard from you. So how's it going in there?"

"I think he's ready," Dean said, "but I need to get Gabriel in here and get Cas ready to come in when Gabriel's done."

"Ok," Sam said, "but first tell me, how are YOU?"

Dean sighed and said, "What do you want me to say? He's still alive, barely, but he's alive. Ok, it took every ounce of strength I had to keep him that way. Is that what you wanted to hear? Can we please just talk about this when it's all over? Please Sam, just go get Gabriel and Cas."

Sam looked at him, wanting more, but then resigned himself to the fact that this just wasn't the right time.

"Alright, I'll send Gabriel in and get Cas ready." Sam said and walked away.

A few minutes later Gabriel slowly walked in afraid of what he would see and then horrified by it. Metatron's hands and feet were cuffed to the table and his body was barely recognizable. It was battered and bruised everywhere with blood still oozing out of cuts and some areas looked like he had been skinned alive!

"What the hell did you do to him?" Gabriel asked.

"I did what I had to do to save YOUR brother, if you have a problem with that, I don't want to hear it. What I need from you is to heal him, but not all the way."

"So you can torture him again? No way! I think he's had enough." Gabriel replied.

Feeling his anger begin to rise, Dean took a deep breath to calm down and said, "No, I DON'T want to keep torturing the sonofabitch, I want to KILL him, right now! But I can't, because I want to save my friend's life. But to do that, I need you to heal him, but only just enough that he can continue living on just his grace alone, understand? Can you do that?"

"You mean?..." Gabriel asked

"Yes," Dean sighed as if having to explain something to a child, "He's been able to survive this long because he has double the grace he should have. I need you to heal him enough so that he has the strength to release Cas' grace and be able to live through the process so he can tell you what you need to know about restoring heaven."

"Ok, yeah, that I can do." Gabriel said and walked over to Metatron, hardly able to look at his damaged and broken body."

He gave Metatron a drink of the water he saw on the table next to him and saw all the bloody instruments Dean had used to torture him.

Metatron opened his mouth to drink the water and saw Gabriel there, "Please brother, you have to help me!"

"I'm going to help you, but not in the way you're hoping I'm afraid. I'm not here to release you, but I'm going to heal you enough to release Cas' grace. And after I do that, I would suggest you do exactly what Dean tells you. If not," and he looked at the table of instruments again, "I'm truly afraid of what might happen."

Gabriel stretched out his hand and laid two fingers on Metatron's forehead. So many areas needed to be healed, but Gabriel could only heal the more life threatening injuries to this broken body. Metatron's body began glowing with Gabriel's grace healing him. Gabriel started with the internal organs that were sliced open and no longer functioning, then he stopped the internal bleeding and repaired many areas that looked like he had been skinned alive. He probably could have left those alone, but he couldn't imagine the pain Metatron must be feeling with muscle and bone exposed. The cuts and bruises and sprains and torn ligaments remained.

Able to breathe and move a little easier now, Metatron said, "Thank you, I'm ready now."

Sam appeared in the doorway, helping Cas get into the room while Gabriel brought the chair Metatron had used earlier for him to sit in, but he insisted he could stand. Cas looked down at Metatron but he wasn't surprised at his condition, he knew how strong Dean's intent was to kill him, so he was only surprised Dean had held out this long.

"Thank you Dean," Cas said, "I don't believe I have much longer with the little grace I have left, and I just couldn't weaken Gabriel any more by taking his."

Cas then looked to the broken man on the table and asked, "Are you ready now Metatron?"

"Yes, anything to get this over with." Metatron replied.

Dean walked around the table and leaned down into Metatron's ear and said "If you screw this up in ANY way, you'll be my chew toy for centuries!"

Metatron nodded as Dean released the cuffs on his hands and sat him up, the cuffs on his feet remained. Dean then sat on the table behind him with an angel blade at Metatron's throat. "Do it now!" he demanded.

Metatron began reciting the incantation to undo the spell that was binding Cas' grace to his own and releasing it in the process. The grace began to flow out of Metatron's mouth and seemed to pause in the room until it found its original host and flew into Cas' mouth. Cas began to glow white as his grace filled him and healed him from the inside out and causing Sam and Dean to shield their eyes.

When the glow from the grace faded and Dean still holding the blade to Metatron's neck, he asked, "Cas? You ok?"

Cas stretched his arms and cracked his neck and said "Yes, finally, I'm much better now."

"But are you ALL better?" Dean had to be sure.

Cas knew Dean was ready to kill Metatron right then and there so he tried to restrain his friend by saying, "Yes, I am, but Dean, we still need to know how to restore heaven."

After the grace had left him, Metatron had collapsed backwards into Dean's arms, but Dean held him up and attached a set of cuffs around both wrists rather than restraining him back to the table again, then he told Sam to release the cuffs on his feet. After he was no longer restrained to the table, Dean moved him to the chair Gabriel had brought over for Cas and splashed some water in Metatron's face to wake him up.

"You're not done yet Metatron," Dean said, "You're gonna tell these two everything they want to know, and I don't need to tell you what will happen if you don't, understand?"

Merton nodded and said, "Yes, I got it, everything they want to know."

Dean put his hand on Cas' arm and nodded to have him walk towards the bookcase doors, "You ok alone with him for a little while?" Dean asked.

"Yes, but how is he secure with those handcuffs?" Cas asked.

Dean grinned from ear to ear and told Cas how he had made cuffs out of angel blades that he had melted down with hellfire.

"I didn't know you could do that. But Dean, how did you get into hell?" Cas asked

"Crowley got me in. I let him catch up to me during the couple of weeks I was away." Dean said, but Cas was looking at him wanting to know more, "I needed to know a few things that only he could answer, ok Cas? And Sam doesn't know that yet, so please keep it to yourself until I get a chance to tell him. Are we done here? I could use a little break!"

"Yes Dean, and again, I want to thank you for showing restraint, it must have been very difficult for you." Cas said.

"You have no idea." Dean replied as he walked away. Sam had been standing a few feet away, but he followed Dean to his bedroom leaving Cas and Gabriel alone with Metatron to get the information they needed.

When Dean got to his bedroom he turned to shut the door and jumped when he saw Sam standing there, "Oh come on Sam, I need a break here!" Dean said

"Fine, but first you're going to tell me what happened in there." Sam said.

"Believe me, you don't want to know, and I don't want to rehash it."

"Well that's just too damn bad, now talk to me!" Sam insisted.

Dean sighed, resigned to the conversation they were bound to have, "Sam, it was the hardest thing I've ever done. I could have killed him more than a dozen times, and I wanted to man, every ounce of whatever's inside me wanted to do it. But I fought it as hard as I could. There were times in that room," Dean paused to regain his composure, "There were times I had to walk away, the NEED to kill him was SO strong. I was shaking, I was throwing up, you name it, but I fought it as hard as I could, until he finally broke."

Sam was listening to his brother's every word and tried to pick up on anything he wasn't saying as well. "And how are you now Dean? Are you ok?" he asked.

"I don't know, yeah, I guess so, for now anyway. But Sam, I AM going to kill him, you know that right?"

"What if Cas and Gabriel decide we still need him?" Sam asked.

"Then TOUGH!" Dean said starting to get angry, "That was the deal, remember? Cas got his grace back, and they're getting their answers, then I get to kill Metatron! That was the deal!"

"Ok, ok, I get it, you're going to kill him. But there's something you're' not telling me, what is it?" Sam asked.

Dean sighed, he was hoping he wouldn't have to share this part with his brother, but they had promised to be honest with each other and he asked, so Dean had to answer, "It's not just that I want to kill him Sam, even though he killed me and deserves it for that alone, not to mention everything else he's done, so the bastard DOES deserve it. But it's not just that I want to kill him, it's that I HAVE to kill him Sam. It's the Mark, it's making me do it, even if I didn't want to, which I do, I'd have to anyway. Why do you think it was so hard not to do it? Why do you think I was sick, and shaking? It was the Mark, I don't know, it was punishing me or something, it wants death Sam, it's demanding it from me. I've been able to get by on killing monsters up till now, but NOT killing Metatron when I had a hundred chances, the Mark didn't like that very much. So when they get done in there, nothing is going to hold me back Sam, not you, not Cas, not even Gabriel with his archangel juice is gonna stop me, understand?"

"Yeah, I got it." Sam said, "I'll let you get some rest now."

"Thank you, but I won't be sleeping so you let me know when they're done ok?" Dean asked

"Ok, we'll let you know." Sam said and walked away.

* * *

"Alright Metatron, time to start talking," Cas said, "How do we open the gates of heaven.

"Castiel, you have to help me! You have to get me out of here before he comes back! He's GOING to kill me!" Metatron said.

"I know Metatron, and yes, he IS going kill you. Gabriel told me what you looked like when he came in, and everything he had to heal, so you should be grateful that's all he'll do, IF you cooperate."

"But Castiel, you can stop it." Metatron pleaded, "You can get me out of here. I'll tell you everything once we're safe, but you have to get me out of here PLEASE!"

Cas walked over to the table of instruments Dean had been using and said "Some of these are pretty creative, and all of them are pretty gruesome." Cas picked up one of the blades and walked over to Metatron. "You're not going to tell me once you're safe, you're going to start talking now, or I'm going to start slicing you up myself and then tell Dean you're not cooperating. I wonder what he'll do once he hears that."

"Ok, ok, but if I do, will you get me out of here?" Metatron said, still pleading and hoping they would save him.

"No Metatron, there's no more deals to be made here other than the one you made with Dean. You brought this on yourself. You chose yourself over humanity, you chose yourself over your brothers and sisters, and you closed off heaven, even to the souls who are now wandering and confused in the veil. This is where that path has led you; these are the consequences of your actions. Now, you're going to tell us everything we want to know, and then you're going to pray that killing you is all Dean chooses to do."

Metatron looked at Gabriel and getting no help from him he said, "Alright, what do you want to know first?"

"How do we open the gates of heaven?" Cas asked.

"The key to the gates is in your grace Castiel. It was your grace that closed them, so it has to be your grace that opens them again."

"What about the nephillum, and the Cupid's bow?" Cas asked.

"I made those up, you needed to believe you were undertaking the trials, so since there are always three trials I made up a couple to gain your trust so I could get to your grace."

That made Cas' blood start to boil, and he practically flew to Metatron with a blade in his hand and pushed it against his heart, "You sonofabitch, I killed that girl! She was just trying to live a normal life and I killed her!" Cas said.

"She was an abomination Castiel! She would have turned eventually, it's her nature!" Metatron said.

That just brought up memories of how he let himself be deceived so completely, making him even angrier, but Cas stepped away knowing they still needed more from Metatron, so Cas asked, "What else?! If my grace is the key, what else do we need to know to open the gates?"

"I used a spell, you'll need to know the incantation before your grace will be able to unlock the gates. You'll need some paper to jot this down, unless you can memorize enochian?"

Cas looked to Gabriel who then left the room to get something to paper and a pen, and ran into Sam.

"How's it going in there?" Sam asked

"Oh he's still being a massive dick, but he's talking. Tried to bargain with us to get him away from you're evil big brother, but we set him straight that wasn't going to happen." Gabriel said.

"DON'T call him that Gabriel!" Sam insisted, "He's NOT evil!"

"Sam, he's a demon, you've gotta face it, as much as you love him, evil is his nature now. We're going to keep our end of the deal, since he kept his and didn't kill Metatron before we were able to save Cas and get the answers we needed, but Metatron is harmless now, there's no NEED to kill him anymore, but Dean is going to kill him anyway. That's evil Sam, and that's your brother now. The sooner you accept that, the better!"

Sam tried to explain to Gabriel, "No! It's revenge! Are you forgetting that Metatron killed HIM?! And it's not just that he wants to do it for revenge's sake, it's more than that, it's that damn Mark! Somehow we have to get that thing off of him! It's the Mark that is making him kill now."

"You sure about that bucko? Demons lie Sam, and he's a demon now, like it or not, therefore, follow the logic with me, Dean will lie too, when it suits his purposes. And we don't exactly know what those purposes are right now do we? I'm just saying, there's room for doubt here Sam." Gabriel paused to make sure that he was getting through Sam's gigantic head, then said, "I gotta get back in there now, you ok for a while?"

Sam was thinking about what Gabriel said and didn't respond.

"Hellooo, you there Sam?" Gabriel asked, trying to get his attention.

That brought Sam out of it and said "Yeah, yeah, I'm here. Go ahead, I'm fine. Just thinking about what you said."

"Good, glad it's not going in one ear and out the other like it usually does!" Gabriel said and left Sam to join Cas in the dungeon with Metatron.

But what Gabriel said WAS going out the other ear. Sam didn't believe it, he couldn't believe it. He believed Dean was being honest with him. Why else would he have told him the things he did about the Mark, about how it feels to be a demon, about everything! No, he thought, maybe he shouldn't, but he trusted his brother, for the time being anyway, and until he gives him reason not to, he will continue to trust him.

* * *

Gabriel walked back through the bookcase shelves and said "They really ought to get rid of these things and just put doors in, don't ya think?" Gabriel asked.

Cas ignored that and looked to Metatron and said, "Ok, what's the incantation."

Metatron then began reciting the enochian incantation while Gabriel jotted it all down. When he was finished, Cas asked, "What else? What else do we need to know to open the gates?

"Nothing! That's it, I swear!" Metatron insisted.

Cas sighed, not knowing if he believed him or not, but he nodded to Gabriel to take over.

Gabriel walked over and said, "Alright Metatron, now tell us, how do we get our wings back?"

Metatron hesitated and sighed, saying, "You can't."

"Well then, I guess the deal's off, no problem, we'll just call Dean back in and tell him you were uncooperative." Gabriel said and nodded to Cas to follow him to the doors.

"No! Wait!" Metatron said and Cas and Gabriel stopped and turned back around.

"You can't get your wings back because they burned in the atmosphere as you fell to earth. And Castiel, you turned human and lost your wings that way." He said as he saw Gabriel and Cas turn back around to walk out. the doors. "BUT, wait a minute, there is a way you can get NEW wings."

The angels paused again and turned back around. "Stop dicking us around Metatron, how do we do it?" Gabriel asked.

"It's another spell, only an archangel can perform it though." Metatron said.

"Lucky for us, we've got one, go on." Gabriel said.

"You'll need a feather and some blood from the archangel performing the spell, and a feather and more blood from a regular angel like Castiel in order for all the angels to get new wings. You'll need to perform the spell while actually inside heaven. Get your paper out again for the rest of the ingredients and the enochian incantation."

Gabriel wrote down everything Metatron said and then asked "How can we be sure you're telling us everything?"

'I AM! Please believe me! Do you think I want to be tortured for eternity by that DEMON? He's twisted and perverse, and if you're not going to save me from him, then I have no choice but to honor the deal he made with me and pray he does the same."

"I don't think praying is going to help you Metatron," Cas said, "No one can hear you from here anyway."

"Yeah, I only tried that about a thousand times while he was twisting angel blade knives inside me! I thought you were supposed to be the good guys! Why aren't you doing anything to help me?!"

His pleading only angered Cas more, "We TRIED Metatron, you had EVERY chance to do the right thing, but YOU caused this by your own pride and stubbornness! The only way to get what we needed from you was to make a deal with Dean, he would get you to talk and then he would kill you. It was your own actions that caused ALL OF THIS!"

Gabriel grabbed Cas' arm and pulled him away to calm him down, "Castiel, it's ok brother, we got what we needed, now let's go and do what we need to do."

"But what about Dean?" Cas asked, "What has all of this done to him? Everything he had to do to Metatron to get him to talk, what did that do to him?"

"I don't know, but what I do know is that we have to get Dean to hold off on killing him until we can make sure the information he gave us is real. By then, maybe we can convince Dean that Metatron doesn't have to die." Gabriel said.

Cas hated this, he wanted to help Dean, but he didn't know how. He knew Dean's intent to kill Metatron was strong, very strong, so he told Gabriel, "I'll need to talk to him, maybe Sam and I together can talk him down for a couple of days until we can get all this done."

Cas grabbed two additional sets of angel cuffs from the table and secured Metatron's feet to the chair he was in just in case, then he secured the chair to the floor by using his new grace to anchor it three inches deep. "You might as well get comfortable, it may be a while before anyone gets back to you." Then Gabriel and Cas walked out and locked the doors, leaving Metatron alone in the room knowing he had no power with the angel cuffs on. Sam met them in the main room and asked what had happened.

Gabriel answered, "Well, we think we got what we needed out of him, but there's no way to be sure he's telling the truth until we perform the spells, and that's gonna take a couple days."

"Sam," Cas said, "we need to talk to your brother, we have to talk him out of killing Metatron before we know if the spells will work."

"I don't know Cas," Sam said and then told him everything Dean said about how this wasn't about wanting to kill him anymore, it was now a matter of the Mark, and what IT NEEDED.

Cas started thinking, trying to figure out something that might feed the Mark and give them a few days. Then it dawned on him, "Sam, a hunt! I need you to find a hunt! That might be the way to distract Dean for a few days and give him something to kill while Gabriel and I perform these spells.

"Alright, that just might work! Shouldn't be too hard to find a hunt, just let me grab my laptop out of my room." Sam said.

After about a half hour hunched over his computer, Sam stood up from his chair and said, "I found one! And Dean's gonna love it!"

"Great," Cas said, "Let's see if Dean will go for it." Cas said.

Sam thought about that and said, "Hey Cas, why don't you let me give it a shot. I think we might have a better chance of getting him to go for it if I approach him alone."

"Alright Sam," Cas replied, "but I'm right here if you need me."

Sam thought about the best approach as he walked to Dean's room. When he got there he had an idea, so he marched right in and announced it immediately, "Time to get up! We got a job to do!"

"What the hell are you talking about Sam? I've got a job right here, killing Metatron! And nothing is taking me away from that!" Dean said.

But that wasn't going to stop Sam, "Yeah, I know, but Cas and Gabriel need a few days to make sure the info they got from Metatron will do what they need to do, SO rather than sitting around here for a few days letting the Mark manipulate you into killing Metatron before they know for sure, we have a job to get to. Or don't you remember? We hunt things, we save people, right? And right now there's a shape-shifter out there that needs to be killed, so let's go kill it!"

Dean was getting mad again, "He was telling the truth Sam, whatever Metatron told them, it's the truth, I guarantee it, Metatron knows what will happen if it's not. We had a deal, they got the intel they needed and I kill Metatron, that's it, and that's what I'm gonna do."

Dean then made his way to the door but Sam stepped in his way, "But we need to know for sure Dean; before you kill him we need to know for sure it will work. So let's just go kill a shape-shifter and by the time we're done, they angels will have their wings and heaven will be open for business again, and THEN you can kill Metatron, I promise. In the meantime, I know the Mark is driving you to kill, so let's go kill something, OK?"

Dean didn't like it one bit, but Sam was right, as usual, and Dean knew it. "Dammit! Ok, whatever, where's the damn shape-shifter?"

"Would you believe it's near Atlantic City?" Sam asked.

That perked Dean up "Atlantic city-Atlantic City? Strippers? Gambling? 24 hour night-life while you're sleeping in a dingy motel Atlantic City?"

Sam nodded, "Yep, that's the one!"

"Ok, let me get this straight. Atlantic City? Exotic Dancers? Gambling AND getting my hands on a shape-shifter? Sounds like Disneyland to me." Dean said, getting a little more excited for the hunt than he thought he would.

Sam led Dean into the main room where Cas and Gabriel were waiting. "Everything alright?" Cas asked.

"Yeah," Dean replied "I don't like it, but you've got your few days while we go hunt this shape-shifter in Atlantic City."

"Wait, Atlantic City? Can I come?" Gabriel asked.

"No!" Cas and Dean said at the same time, then Cas continued, "You need to perform the spell for the wings, so you're coming with me."

Gabriel whined, "I never get to have fun anymore Mom!"

Sam spoke up, "Ok, you two go do your thing, Metatron's secured right?"

"Yes," Cas said, "I put two more pairs of cuffs on his feet securing him to the chair, and I secured the chair to the floor, the cuffs he already had on his wrists are still there."

"That should hold him then." Dean said.

Sam nudged Dean and said, "There's one more thing Dean, come with me." Sam led him to the garage and then said "There'll be no zapping around this time!" Sam said.

With a huge smile on his face Dean yelled, "Baby! Oh baby, I missed you!" Then he turned to Sam and said "You didn't douche her up did you?"

Sam laughed, "Nope, she's just how you left her."

Dean slid his hand over the hood and over to the driver's side and said, "Oh baby, we're gonna go have some fun!"


	9. Chapter Nine

A/N: I must take a moment to express my heartfelt thanks to everyone for the reviews that have been left thus far! I'd like to give a special shout-out to Nadreth, ncsupnatfan, soapfanfiction, and Marmar for their continued support and kind words! Although I've been very busy and life has been getting in the way of publishing as often as I'd like, each comment has left me more encouraged, and in some cases, even inspired to continue writing! So please continue letting me know what you're thinking and how you like it so far! Maybe I can even turn chapter 10 around a little quicker! I also continue to be more than happy to receive your PM's and have absolutely loved getting your tweets too! My twitter name is: SPN_sil, so feel free to come find me there too!

Now, let's get on with the story, shall we?

**DISCLAIMER** I do not have any ownership stake in Supernatural or any of the characters portrayed within the show, however, I do have the utmost respect for those that do!

* * *

Sam and Dean met up with Cas and Gabriel in the main room of the bunker. Dean had already packed and was coming up from the dungeon where he made sure Metatron was fully restrained and secure. Sam, having finally been able to sleep for a few hours, was finished packing as well. The angels has just returned from obtaining the ingredients they needed from a variety of local shops.

"Is Metatron secure?" Sam asked, "And still alive?"

Dean rolled his eyes and said, "No, I didn't kill him Sam, and yes, he's secure. I chained him to a post anchored 7 feet below the bunker using the angel cuffs. He's not going anywhere." Dean then turned his attention to the angels and asked, "What about you guys? Did you get everything you needed?"

"Everything but the angel feathers," Cas replied, "and we have no idea where to get those since no one has wings anymore."

Dean grinned and said, "Why didn't you just ask? Sam?"

"No problem!" Sam said, matching his brother's mischievous grin, "They should still be in the trunk where we left them." Sam then grabbed his duffle bag and headed to the garage.

Gabriel's curiosity got the better of him and he had to ask, "I'm sure you got more than a few regular angel feathers from Mr. Always-here-to help, but how did you get an _arch_angel feather?"

Still smiling Dean said, "After you supposedly bit the dust, and not long after Luci had left the building, Sam and I doubled back and grabbed a couple feathers you had left behind." Then he winked at Gabriel and said, "You never know when something like an archangel feather might come in handy!"

Sam returned just then and handed the feathers to the angels, "One regular and one extra juicy." He said and then looked to Dean and asked, "You ready?"

"Almost." Dean said and then looked at Cas and asked, "Got a minute before we leave?"

"Of course." He said as they both took a few steps to the other side of the room.

Dean eased into the conversation by first asking how Cas' grace was holding up and Cas assured him he was feeling better than he had since before the fall. Then Cas asked what this was really about.

"I don't know, I guess I just wanted to touch base." Dean said.

But Cas knew Dean wasn't one to make a point of having a conversation without a purpose in mind, so he pressed on, "Dean, we've been through too much together not to know when something's on your mind. What's this about?"

Dean wanted to stop beating around the bush, but he wasn't exactly sure what he wanted himself so he continued, hoping it would come to him, "I'm glad you've got your grace back Cas, really, if nothing else, I'm glad you'll still be around to fight the good fight!"

"Thank you Dean, I know you mean that, and I appreciate it, but again, that's not what you wanted to talk to me about, is it?" Cas asked

"No, I mean yes, I am glad, but," then Dean realized he had to get down to it, "Cas, everyone knows that Metatron killed me. I felt the angel blade pierce my heart and, I don't know how I held on as long as I did, maybe it was the Mark, or the Mark and the Blade together. I'd like to think it was Sam's shear will and determination for me to live, but the fact remains, I died!"

Surprising Cas, Dean then choked up a little as he tried to continue, "I died Cas, right there in Sam's arms. But now, I can feel my heart beating again! I know Crowley put the Blade into my hand and the Blade and the Mark brought me back as a demon," he paused, "but I guess I was just wondering if you thought," Dean paused, "if you thought maybe there might be something you could do?"

Cas wanted more than anything to save his friend, after everything they had been through together and everything they meant to each other, he was his _friend,_ so he had to try! He looked at Dean and said, "I don't know Dean." He said and then cautiously continued, "I don't want to make any promises, or get your hopes up," then he took a deep breath and said, "but damned if I can't try!" Cas then took a step towards him, lowered his head and laid his palm on Dean's forehead. Cas' newly restored grace began to shine from the angel and then through the demon.

That got Sam and Gabriel's attention real quick! Sam had to shield his eyes from the blinding light of Cas' grace as Gabriel looked on, hoping his brother could in turn save the friend that had saved him, but also knowing what the results would be.

Dean felt his body trying to fight the angelic intrusion. His mind knew his friend would never try to kill him, but the Mark burned with rage against it like he had never felt before, and his demon soul tried to recoil and run from it. Dean thought his knees might buckle as Cas' grace invaded every cell of his being, but Cas somehow held him up. His eyes could not see the darkness of closed lids, but only the brightness of the grace that filled him. He felt shame, and guilt, and regret in the presence of true grace. How he didn't die again, but instead, was able to withstand the few seconds it was within him, he'd never know and could only assume Cas was doing something to allow himself to withstand it. As the grace began to fade, the thought occurred to him and he knew, that these few seconds of true grace enveloping him, would haunt him as long as he lived.

Dean's strength left him the very moment Cas' grace dissipated completely and Cas caught him as he began to fall. Sam was only a few steps behind Gabriel as they rushed to grab him and carry him to a chair.

When Dean came to, they were all looking at him with concern. "You guys really need to work on your poker faces." He said, "Better yet, game night's right here next week."

Cas was the first to speak, "Are you alright Dean?" He asked.

Dean took a quick inventory and replied, "Yeah, no problem. What doesn't kill you and all that, right?"

"That's good," Cas began, "The good news is your heart, all of your organs actually, and in fact, every cell of your body is whole and nothing needed to be healed. But, I'm sorry Dean, I tried, but," Cas said.

Dean saw the hesitation, not just in Cas' words, but in his whole being, and he knew, "Its ok Cas, it was a pipe dream. Nothing is ever that easy for us is it? Not that _that_ was _easy_!"

Cas could only repeat what he had already said, "I'm sorry."

Silent until now and overcome with the emotion of the moment, Sam said, "It's ok Cas, we'll just find another way." Then he looked to his brother and laid his hand on Dean's shoulder and said, "There's always another way right? We just have to find it is all. And we WILL Dean, I promise you, if it's the last thing I ever do, I WILL find another way!"

Dean reached up and cupped Sam's neck with his hand, and with hope that he could only explain as a remnant of Cas' grace he said, "I know you will Sammy, I know."

* * *

After everyone said their goodbyes, shook hands, exchanged bro-hugs, and wished each other good luck, Cas and Gabriel headed upstairs to leave, while Sam and Dean headed to the garage.

After the disappointment of the previous hour's events, Sam was happy to see his brother's face light up as they entered the garage and Dean saw the Impala right there waiting for him. Dean grabbed the keys off the pegboard and made a bee-line straight to her and said, "Alright Baby, Daddy's back in town and we've got a job to do!" Dean opened the driver's side door, threw his duffle in the back, got in and started her up as Sam got into the passenger side.

"Oh yeah! Listen to that _purr _Sammy!" Dean said as they both laughed, "Just like old times!" Dean grabbed a cassette out of his collection and approved of the selection as he slid it into the tape player and "Carry On My Wayward Son" began to play, loudly! He threw his Baby into drive and headed out to the open road, towards to Atlantic City.

After several hours it was proving almost impossible to get Dean out of his tape collection and focused on anything other than driving and listening to his tunes. However, it was nearly two in the afternoon and unlike his brother, Sam still needed to eat.

"I'm sure this is going to suck for you over the next few days, but I still need the basics Dean, like food, and sleep, so if you don't mind, could ya pull over at the next fast food joint joint please?" Sam asked.

Dean just laughed and said "No problem Sammy!" then turned up the volume and put the pedal to the floor for another half hour.

They finally pulled into a dinner off the interstate where Dean ordered a greasy cheeseburger with extra onions and a side of fries, just for the hell of it, while Sam got an extra-large chef salad, not knowing when he may eat again.

Once the food arrived Dean said, "Alright, Atlantic City, run it down for me little brother."

"Ok." Sam said as he opened his laptop and turned it around for Dean and said, "Three women, all filed sexual assault charges against their boyfriends, who each had rock solid alibis."

"Sexual assault, huh? This guy's as good as dead already. Go on." Dean said between bites.

"Yeah, thought you'd feel that way. Anyway, one guy was at an all-night poker game with five other men."

"All friends?" Dean asked, "They could be covering for the guy."

"Three of them were friends, yeah, but one was a new neighbor who barely knew him and the other was a relative of the neighbor that had only _just_ met the guy that night." Sam said.

"Ok, and the others?" Dean asked.

Sam took a bite of his salad and continued, "The second guy was at a men's bible study group with several people from his church who are all willing to testify in court that he was there at the time of the assault."

Dean took another bite and couldn't help himself and said, "Damn this burger is good! How could I forget?! Mmmhmm!"

"Dean?" Sam said, "It's a burger, not porn."

"You sure about that Sam?" Dean asked with a grin. "Ok, what about the third guy?"

Sam continued, "The third guy was at work, in a meeting with his boss and several other people in his department."

"So what are the cops saying?" Dean asked, "How are the girls able to prove the guys were there?"

"Fortunately for the guys that didn't do it, they can't! So, since they all had an alibi, the cops had to drop the charges. Except for one, the shifter was caught on camera at an ATM near where the assault occurred and just 15 minutes before it began. Watch this." Sam tapped a few keys on his computer and brought up the video of the guy at the ATM.

Dean watched the video and after a few seconds the camera had caught the shifter's eyes. "Well, hello freak! That's good enough for me. Anything else?" Dean asked.

Sam finished another bite of his salad and said, "Yeah, 'coincidently' each assault occurred within a one mile radius."

"And I'll just bet they were all along the same sewer line too." Dean said.

"You got it." Sam replied.

Dean finished watching the video and felt the disgust and hate begin to rise within him, "Enjoy that money while you can dickbag, because your days are done."

* * *

Cas and Gabriel had made their way to Cas' special spot in heaven without too much of a problem. The portal guards were not exactly happy to see them after they had been punched into a wall and cast into sleep by the spell Cas and Gabriel had used to supposedly get Metatron to safety.

"Well baby bro, which spell do you want to try first?" Gabriel asked.

"I think we should start with the wings Gabriel. Just in case Metatron wasn't entirely forthcoming, I wouldn't want to attempt to open the gates first and wind up making matters worse."

"Ok, but if we're going to do that, don't ya think we should probably tell someone what we're doing so they can tell angels not fight whatever may happen when their wings suddenly appear?"

Cas sighed, "Hannah. I guess we should tell Hannah and she can warn the angels. It would be better coming from her after what we've done. The guards mentioned that she wanted to see us anyway."

"Oh yeah, no problem there I'm sure!" Gabriel replied sarcastically, "First of all, after breaking Metatron out of prison and supposedly 'losing' him to Dean? I imagine she's going to be QUITE suspicious of anything _we_ have to say." Gabriel said. "And secondly, she's going to ask how we got him to give up your grace ANDthe spells to restore heaven, especially in the _brief_ time we supposedly had him." Gabriel said.

Cas thought about that for a while and came up with an idea. "Just follow my lead." He said as they made their way to the home office.

Hannah coldly greeted them at the door and led them to an office she was using to coordinate and manage the heavenly host. "Please, have a seat gentlemen." She said while taking her own seat opposite them behind a desk that way too large for her small frame.

She began the conversation by saying, "So, you heard about a plot to kill Metatron, and in order to prevent that from happening you decided to break him out of prison, without letting anyone know what you were doing, or why you were doing it. And then, just when you thought you were supposedly safe, Castiel's favorite little human, who, just a minute," Hanna looked down at a file she had on her desk, "yes, who just so happens to be a DEMON now, pops up and whisks him away. Do I have this right gentlemen?" Hannah asked.

"Yes, that's about right." Cas replied.

"And you expect me to _believe_ that?" Hannah rose from her seat and leaned over the desk, glaring at both Cas and Gabriel and said, "I have half a mind to throw BOTH of you in prison."

And that was just about all it took to get Gabriel's tighty-whities in a bunch as _he_ then stood up to say, "Sweetheart, you wouldn't know what to do with half a mind even if you did have one, which you plainly don't! You can sit there and play Miss. Tight-ass-bossy-pants with all the angels you like, _but_," Gabriel's voice began to rise, "since you _don__'__t _have half a mind, evidently I have to remind you that you're addressing an _ARCH_angel right now, and I don't take that crap from ANYONE, much less a pencil pushing wannabe trying to jockey for leadership in the very place that THIS angel is trying to restore! So you can just sit that tight ass right back down in that seat and listen to what the man has to say, OR you can sit on the _sidelines_ with everyone else and watch the miracles he's about to perform from the _cheap_ seats! NOW! _DO_ WE HAVE YOUR _ATTENTION_?!"

Hannah just stood there in shock for a moment, and not just a little fear, until finally she pulled down on her suit jacket and sat back down behind her desk. She then laid her clasped hands on top of the desk, cleared her throat and leaned forward to say, "How can I help you Castiel?"

* * *

The boys had driven another eight hours until they both needed a break from the road and being cooped up in the car, so they pulled into a motel and paid for the night with a credit card in the name of Alex Lifeson and requested a corner room on the first floor which just so happened to be available (along with most every other room in the run-down motel). They threw their bags down and soon thereafter Sam left to grab a bite to eat at eat a nearby restaurant while Dean scoped out the area.

When they each returned to their room for the night, and after Dean had finished taking a shower, Sam decided the time was right for a heart-to-heart.

"Dean," he began, getting straight to the point, "I gotta know, how did you know how to melt down angel blades with hellfire, and how did you get to the hellfire to do it?"

Dean had wanted to spend the evening watching a few movies on HBO, but he figured his brother had been holding that question in his pocket for a while now, and he also knew that this was only the introductory, softball question that usually led to the harder ones, which always had the potential of turning into a huge debate. So he made a mental note to keep his own temper in check, knowing the answer to this question was seriously going to piss his brother off. He sat at the table across from Sam and calmly said, "I found out about it when I let Crowley catch up to me during the time I was away."

"WHAT?!" Sam asked with the full temper Dean had known the answer would arouse, "You let CROWLEY catch up to you, but I was literally just a few feet from you in Wyoming and you RAN?!"

"I didn't exactly run." Dean replied.

"Yeah? What would you call it?" Sam asked.

"Ok fine, I ran." Dean said starting to respond to Sam's temper in kind. "Call it whatever you want."

"I call it like I see it!" Sam said, "But WHY? Why would you run from me but let Crowley catch up to you?"

Dean knew there was only one way to get Sam to fully understand the answer to that question, so he looked down and closed his eyes for a long second, and then looked back up at Sam with his demon eyes and said, "Because of this Sam! Because as much as we know about demons, _obviously _Crowley knows a whole lot more, and at the time, I needed answers that only HE could give!" Dean said and then changed his eyes back to green.

Sam was always taken aback by seeing Dean's demon eyes so he paused for a minute but then decided that he wasn't going to let that deter him from getting the answers he needed.

"Ok fine, what did you find out from Crowley?" Sam asked.

Dean took a deep breath then began by explaining, "I asked him about the hellfire glow that lit up everything I was seeing and where it was coming from. He said it was obviously coming from hell so I asked him to take me to it."

"You went back to hell? Voluntarily?" Sam asked.

"Well it was a little different this time Sam, I had the First Blade with me so it wasn't like anything was going to get me anywhere near that rack again!"

"Ok, what happened when you got there?" Sam asked.

"He told me that the hellfire wasn't good for much and that he usually just used it to toss souls into when he was done having his 'fun' as he put it. But the first thing I noticed was how freaking hot it was! So I got to wondering if maybe it could melt things down that, under normal circumstances, were indestructible, like angel blades. You've got to understand Sam, at that time, I had no control over the Mark or my newly minted demon soul. All I could think about was killing Metatron, torturing and killing him, giving him a hundred times worse than what he did to me. So I grabbed an angel blade out of my bag, held it over the fire and watched it melt. Even Crowley was surprised. Then I began thinking of all the things I could forge from the blades I had and Crowley left me to my own devices."

Of course, there was more to what Crowley had told him about his new existence, but Dean wasn't ready to reveal that just yet. It wasn't an outright lie, Dean told himself, it just wasn't the right time to reveal the whole truth just yet, or so he thought.

But Sam could never be accused of being stupid so he knew there was something Dean wasn't telling him. And although at this point, he would usually let things drop and wait until Dean was ready to tell him whatever he was holding back, this time he was determined to keep pushing until he got the truth. If he was going to save his brother, he had to know everything, no matter how bad it was.

"What else?" Sam asked.

"Nothing," Dean replied a little too quickly. "I told you, he left after that."

Undeterred Sam asked again, "What else?!"

Dean tried to shut down Sam's questions by saying, "You wanted to know about the hellfire and I told you everything there was to tell about it, now leave it alone dammit!" Dean demanded.

"NO!" Sam demanded back, "There's something else you're not telling me Dean. Maybe not about the hellfire, but there's something! Now TELL ME, what else did Crowley say to you?"

His brother's insistence only made Dean's anger and rage swell, and once again, not wanting his brother to see him like this, he had to turn away as he instinctively grabbed at the mark as it started to burn. But when his eyes darted to the duffle bag where he was currently keeping the Blade, he knew he was in trouble, or more precisely Sam was in trouble.

Seeing his brother recoil and grab at the Mark, Sam softened his tone, but he believed his brother was still in control and wouldn't hurt him. He had no way of knowing the extent to which his brother was fighting to keep that control.

"Dean," he said, "it's ok, whatever it is, its ok. But if I'm going to help you, I have to know everything. What else did Crowley tell you? What else do I need to know?"

Dean knew the rage coursing through his veins. He'd felt it before and knew what could happen as a result. He HAD to get out of there, for Sammy's sake, he had to go! Dean stood tall and faced his brother again, but this time, no longer able to control them, he looked at his brother with eyes blacker than midnight and snarled, "This is over Sam!" and Dean grabbed his bag and left the room, slamming the door behind him.


	10. Chapter Ten

A/N: There's not much more to say that I haven't said already. MANY thanks to those that have left reviews and sent PMs! Those comments along with all the new followers and many tweets I've received have continued to encourage and inspire me to keep writing. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

And with that said, I'm way too excited about this chapter to say anything more, so let's just get on with the show, shall we?

**DISCLAIMER** I do not have any ownership stake in Supernatural, or the characters within the show, but I do have the utmost respect for those that do!

* * *

Sam ran outside, just in time to see his brother already in the car and peeling out of the parking lot. Running both hands through his hair, he stood and watched the Impala drive down the road and then headed back inside. "Oh no you don't!" he said, silently grateful Dean had taken the car instead of just disappearing to God knows where.

Sam opened his laptop as he sat down at the table and his fingers began flying across the keys. After a few seconds he shouted, "Gotcha!" as he brought up the GPS tracker he had activated on Dean's cell phone while he was in the shower just before the argument began. At the moment it looked looked like Dean was just driving aimlessly around town, but even though Sam knew better than that, he _didn't _know where Dean was headed specifically, so Sam let the window run in the background while he accessed every coroner's report he could hack into within a 50 mile radius. After what Sam had witnessed before his brother took off, he figured Dean would be out there somewhere, looking for something to kill. Sam scoured the coroner's reports as quickly as possible, trying not to miss any clues, but there was nothing there to indicate anything supernatural had occurred in the area within the last six months.

That left Sam with a uneasy thought, without anything supernatural out there to kill, he wondered if Dean would settle for something else, God forbid, maybe even something human! Just then the window tracking Dean's movements flashed so he brought it to the foreground. "Oh crap!" he said as he grabbed his backpack on the way out the door. Dean had stopped right in the middle of the seedier section of town.

* * *

After Cas and Gabriel left Hannah's office Cas looked at Gabriel and asked, "What happened to following my lead?"

"Oh come ON little brother! She more than had that one coming! Let's just chalk it up to the trickster coming out to play, shall we? Besides, there's too few of us archangels left now, these youngsters need to be reminded who they're messing with every once in a while, present company excluded of course."

"But of course" Cas responded with a smile. Then he got to thinking and his smile began to fade.

"Ok, it's time to get moving again. We still have to find the last two ingredients."

According to Metatron, unlike the feathers and the other items they had already gathered, the final ingredients had to come from _inside _heaven. So the angels walked along the stream of what should now probably be called Cas' heaven. "I've got a pretty good idea of where to start looking for the first one." Cas said, "We just need to follow the stream to get there. However, I have no idea how to find the other!"

"You just leave that one to me." Gabriel said as they continued to walk, straight to where every stream and river and road in heaven led, to the garden itself, in the very heart of heaven.

When they'd finally arrived they both took a deep breath of the clean, crisp air and Cas said, "I always forget how beautiful it is here."

"Yep, Dad definitely had a soft spot for this place," Gabriel said, "and Eden wasn't _too _far off the mark either."

"I'm so glad to hear you think so, I've worked very hard at keeping it just the way He wanted it." Joshua said from behind the angels as he joined the conversation.

Surprised by his sudden appearance Cas simply said, "Joshua, thank you for coming."

"It may surprise you to learn, I don't get too many visitors here, so when someone shows up, I tend to do the same." Joshua said, "How can I help you Castiel? Or is it Gabriel here that needs my assistance?"

"Actually, I think it's me this time." Gabriel answered.

"Good, I was hoping I wasn't going to have to explain again that I don't know where our Father is anymore than anyone else does."

"Yeah, well, as much as we'd love to know the answer to _that _question, it's not the reason we're here." Gabriel said. Joshua just stood waiting respectfully so Gabriel continued. "I'm afraid we may need something from your garden here."

"Oh?" Joshua asked, "What's that?"

"Actually, I'm not really sure it matters, it's more of a 'consent' kind of a thing. You see, we're trying to get new wings for our brothers and sisters, but the spell requires the 'consent of heaven' to do it. Castiel here is the one that figured the heart of heaven was a good place to start looking."

"I see. Well to tell you the truth, I haven't always approved of everything our brothers and sisters have done in recent years," Gabriel started to argue, but Joshua just held up his hand and continued, "but, I suppose we _all _suffered for that, during and after the fall. Wait here just a minute gentlemen, I think I know just the thing you're looking for." Without wings himself, Joshua walked away, returning a few minutes later with an apple in hand.

"That's it?" Gabriel asked, "I mean, not that I don't trust you but, that's not forbidden or anything, right?"

Joshua answered by explaining that it was precisely _why _the apple was forbidden on earth that it was exactly what they needed in heaven now.

"You don't know the real reason why the apple was forbidden on earth do you?" Joshua asked as Gabriel and Cas shook their heads. "It's ok, not too many do. You see, the apple was God's favorite fruit, and the tree in Eden was actually grown from a seed taken directly from the tree found right here in this garden. So, since it grew from heaven itself, our Father forbade eating from it on earth."

Understanding completely now, Gabriel and Cas sincerely thanked Joshua and said their goodbyes, realizing that since the apple had been cherished by their Father and voluntarily given by it's guardian, it was the perfect donation to the cause. The angels then looked around the garden one last time before setting off again.

* * *

Sam left the motel with his slim-jim in hand, and walked down the street to a dark alley where a few cars had parked between a bar and an out-of-business retail store. Finding a nice, anonymous looking car, Sam popped the lock, and had it hot-wired and driving away within about a minute flat. He checked the GPS tracker from his phone this time and then followed it for about 5 miles to the area where Dean had parked the Impala. He parked the stolen car about a block away and made note of his surroundings as he approached the Impala and looked inside. Seeing Dean's duffle bag on the back seat, he opened the door and searched the bag finding the cell phone on top and as suspected, the First Blade gone. Sam hated that Blade with a passion and knew whoever might be on the other side of it was in mortal danger. Just then he heard a scream and the unmistakable sound of gunfire coming from an apartment building a block away. Sam ran towards it and just as he got there a woman all but knocked him down trying get away. Sam grabbed her and asked, "What apartment?!"

"Don't go up there mister!" She replied, "It'll kill you!"

"It's OK, I can stop him, but you have to tell me what apartment he's in!" Sam demanded this time.

The woman continued yelling as she ran away, "216, but it's probably too late! Nothing can stop that thing!"

Sam let the woman go and quickly moved inside the building where he almost tripped over a man lying on the floor. Sam bent down and rolled him over to check for a pulse. The man was beaten and bloody, with a knife wound to the gut. He was also dead."

Sam ran up two flights of stairs and heard Dean's voice yelling at someone inside apartment 216. Finding the door locked, Sam kicked it in without hesitation and found the apartment trashed with pictures and papers tossed about and broken furniture everywhere. With his shirt soaked in blood, Dean was standing opposite a man who was cornered in the living room. The hallway leading to the bedrooms was blocked by a dresser Dean must have shoved into place to keep the man from escaping to his right. On the other side, a bookcase was keeping him from bolting to his left. Sam then watched Dean as he started moving towards the man with his right hand gripping the First Blade and moving it up to an attack position.

"DEAN! Sam yelled, and his brother turned to see Sam standing in the broken doorway as hellfire lit the room.

Pleading with his brother, Sam said, "Drop the blade, please Dean!" but instead, Dean turned back again and began moving forward.

"NO!" Sam yelled, flying across the room to get between his brother and the man he was trying to kill.

Seeing Sam in front of him finally made Dean stop and the man started yelling, "I shot him! I SHOT him and he just stood there, and those eyes!"

Looking into Dean's black eyes himself, but speaking to the man behind him, Sam said, "It's ok, you can leave now."

Dean finally spoke saying, "I don't think so Sam." as he blocked the man's path, "Did you see the guy downstairs?"

"Yeah, I saw him," Sam said, relieved to find out his brother wasn't the one to kill him. "But you don't want to do this."

Dean stared right past Sam to the man standing behind him and said, "Like hell I don't, he _killed_ that guy Sam!"

Sam then tried to reason with the demon in front of him, "Ok, maybe he did, but we let the cops handle things like this, remember?"

Defiant, Dean angrily replied, "Not this time Sam, now move out of my way, or so help me..."

But Sam wasn't moving and when Dean realized he wasn't going to, he shoved Sam to the floor and then shoved the murderer against the wall and bringing the Blade to his throat.

Sam then yelled as loud as he could. "DEAN STOP! HE'S HUMAN!"

Barely able to hear his brother screaming, the hatred and bloodlust raging through every cell of his being was drowning everything else out. But finally, Sam's pleading to save a _human_ life resonated with something very deep inside, and Dean stopped the Blade just short of slitting the man's throat.

Sam picked himself up off the floor as quickly as possible for a man his size and stood right next to the man pinned against the wall. Just two feet away from his brother now, Sam saw him start to shake, gritting his teeth, and if he wasn't mistaken, he was sure he heard a growl escape from his brother's gut. Sam knew this demon wasn't just possessing his brother, he was _part_ of him, but Sam continued to plead, "He's _human_ Dean! Put the Blade down!"

"I can't Sam, I can't do it! _He_ killed a human too, this guy _deserves _it. Why shouldn't I give him what he deserves?" Dean asked and pushed the blade into the man's throat causing it to bleed.

"Dean, NO! Ok, you want to know why, right? I'll tell you Dean, because that's not_ US _man! That's not who_ WE _are! You're better than this Dean! _WE'RE_ better than this."

Not even knowing why exactly, Dean then moved the Blade back about a quarter-inch. "Ok, that's good." Sam said, "Now, look at _me_." Then Dean began darting his eyes back and forth, still holding the murderer against the wall with the Blade shaking in place.

Sam's heart broke seeing how hard his brother was fighting to stay in control. Feeling tears welling in his eyes, he knew he couldn't look away for even a second so he just let them fall, "We're in this _together_ Dean, don't you see? _You and me_, just like always!"

"_How_ do I stop Sam? He deserves it, you know he does."

"I'll tell you how, you just let it go Dean, remember? Just let it go and put the blade down, Ok? Then this guy's gonna call the police and confess."

"I am?" The man asked.

Dean pushed the Blade back into the man's throat as Sam asked, "Do you WANT to die?" Then he looked back at his brother and said "He'll call Dean, we'll stay here while he does and then we'll wait outside until the cops show up and take him away."

Dean continued to hold the man against the wall, but then folded his elbow, still shaking, but allowing the Blade to move away from his neck. Then he looked at Sam and with a cracked voice asked, "You and me?"

"You and me," Sam said, "just like it's always been."

Dean then hesitated for a minute and said, "There's things I haven't told you Sammy."

Sam shook his head and laughed just a little, releasing some of the tension of the moment and said, "And you think I didn't _know _that?"

* * *

"Ok, where to now?" Cas asked. "You said you had an idea of where to get the last ingredient."

"Just follow me brother. " Gabriel said as they walked along until they came upon a path that led through a wooded area, and then to what appeared to be rundown shack whose door had a warding sigil painted on it.

"Allow me." Gabriel said, "You have to knock in a very specific pattern to open the door."

After Gabriel had knocked Cas thought the pattern sounded familiar. "Wait, isn't that the introduction to a song? 'Smoke on the Water' right?"

"Well, color me impressed!" Gabriel said.

"Don't be, I first heard that song while driving with Dean on our way to interrogate Raphael." Cas said.

Gabriel knocked on the door a second time, in the same pattern and the door swung open revealing a young man holding a Pabst Blue Ribbon beer in his hand.

"GABE!" He shouted.

"DOCTOR BADASS!" Gabriel shouted back as they grabbing each others hands for a shake and bro-hug.

Then Gabriel looked at Cas and said, "Little brother, I'd like you to meet Ash, also known as Dr. Badass!"


	11. Chapter Eleven

A/N: Hey everyone! Afraid I need to let you know that I'm I'm going to have to take a break for a little while. We are moving at the end of the month, and I've got to start focusing on packing and getting things set up at the new place. But don't worry, this story isn't anywhere near finished yet and I will be back after the first of the month with a new chapter! I'm seriously going to miss writing! I've never done anything like this before and have enjoyed it tremendously! Your feedback has been just incredible! Please keep leaving reviews, and if you think of it and could help spread the word during this break, I'd be incredibly grateful! Anyway, sorry this chapter is a little short; I just wanted to make sure to get something out to you before I had to start focusing on the move tomorrow for all support you have given me! Thanks again and I really look forward to seeing you again soon!

**DISCLAIMER** I do not own Supernatural or any of the characters portrayed on the show, nor do I derive any profit from this story, however, I do have great respect for those that do!

* * *

Cas and Gabriel had followed Ash into the little shack in the woods, but Cas had found the inside didn't look like a little shack at all! As Gabriel explained, Ash's heaven was an exact replica of a bar on earth called The Roadhouse, where Ash had lived and hunters frequented; however, in order for Ash to maintain a low profile, it had been hidden by an Enochian cloaking spell.

"It's nice to meet you Ash," Cas said, "the boys told me how you tracked Azazel for them, and spoke very highly of you. But how exactly do the two of you know each other?"

Gabriel answered, "Remember I told you that I had been hiding up here after my run-in with Luci?" Cas nodded, "Well, this is the guy I was hiding out with. Ash is pretty well known in certain circles up here and has helped a lot of people. It's because of him I was able to disappear so completely. Ash is one of very few humans able to get around pretty easily up here, and the things he can do with a computer! And I swear, this guy knows Enochian better than most angels. The man is a freakin' genius!"

"Oh come now Gabe," Ash said, "painting it a little thick aren't we?"

"Deny it all you want my friend, but we both know it's true," Gabriel said.

"Well, if you insist," Ash conceded just shy of bragging. "Now, how about a beer compadres?"

Ash grabbed a round from behind the bar and joined the angels at a nearby table. Gabriel then caught Ash up on everything that had happened since he left to help Cas. However, when he spoke of Dean's role in getting Cas' grace back Gabriel's tone became noticeably softer, knowing the news of Dean's current state of existence would upset his friend.

"Whoa, Dean's an actual _demon _now?!" Ash asked needing a few minutes to process. He then asked the usual questions, like were they _really _sure he wasn't just possessed, hoping they were wrong and trying to think of anything else it could be. However, when Cas told him about the Mark of Cain and the First Blade, and what Crowley had done after Dean died at the hands of Metatron, it finally sunk in.

Ash just shook his head and said, "I swear that boy can get into more trouble..." A minute later he slapped his hands on the table and said, "Well OK then, what can I do to help?"

Empathizing with Ash's wanting to help, but unaware of anything he coulddo, Cas sympathetically said, "I'm not sure there is anything Ash, but I believe the answer may lie in a tablet that was written by Metatron and is the very Word of God on the subject of demons. However, we have to find that tablet first and then figure out a way to read it as I don't anticipate Metatron will be breathing much longer."

"Oh ye of little faith," Ash said cracking his knuckles, "I can find that tablet for ya, no problemo!"

Surprised at this unexpected development Cas simply asked, "How?"

Ash left the table to get his computer off the bar so Gabriel answered, "When I said the man was a genius, I wasn't exaggerating."

Ash sat back down at the table with his laptop and started moving a rainbow of different colored wires into different plugs, and then his fingers began tapping away at the keys. While Ash worked, Cas and Gabriel discussed how they could possibly keep Metatron alive as a back-up plan in case everything else fell through. About the time they had finished their beers, Ash lifted his head from the computer and said, "Two days gentlemen, I should be able to tell you where to find your tablet in two days."

"Impressive, thank you Ash!" Cas replied.

Ash sucked in a deep breath and pretended to polish his fingertips on his shirt, "They don't call me Dr. Badass for nothin' sir!"

Cas smiled as he and Gabriel sat uneasy in their seats, hesitating to ask for anything more, yet knowing they had no choice. Ash finally broke the silence by asking, "How about another round?" Then he grabbed the empty beer bottles and made his way behind the bar for more. "Then you can tell me why you're really here. Obviously Mr. Trench Coat didn't think I could help with this demon tablet, so I'm assuming you came for something else," he said as he returned to the table.

"Busted," Gabriel said, "you're right Ash, there is something else," then Gabriel went on to explain about the spell they wanted to cast to give the angels new wings.

Ash leaned forward in his chair and looked straight into Gabriel's eyes and said, "You're kidding, right? We finally get the upper hand in getting away from those doucebags and you want my help in making it _hard _again?" He then leaned back again and defiantly said, "Nuh uh, no can do my friend," and took another swig of his beer.

"But that's precisely why it has to be you Ash!" Gabriel explained, "This spell requires the 'consent of man' and that consent has to be found _inside_ heaven. We could have gone to any brainwashed human sympathetic to the angelic 'cause' as they know it, but we're trying to do this right man, so I figured it had to come from someone that knows the score, the _real_ score."

Ash was still hesitant and said, "But that's exactly why I can't do it Gabe. Look man, you and I go back a few years now. You _know _what it's taken to stay a step ahead of those dicks. Hell, my whole heaven is a testament to that with the Enochian cloaking!"

"In case you've forgotten Ash, I just so happen to be one of those dicks, and so is Cas! We're not _all _bad. Some of us still believe in our original mission, to protect and serve mankind. But in order to do that, we _need _our wings man! You should have seen us trying to haul Metatron out of here without them, it was pathetic!"

"Then find a gym Gabe, seriously," Ash scoffed.

"But why did we do it Ash? Do you _know _how many souls are lost in the veil right now? How many _human_ souls? We broke Metatron out so we could find out how to open the gates again so they can come HERE, where they belong, because we serveman. And why do we want the angels to have wings? Because they're making a mess of things on earth and we're trying to protect and serve mankind by getting them the hell out of there!" Gabriel then took a deep breath to settle down and said, "Look Ash, you're doing a lot for people up here, and what you're doing is important, but we're trying to make things right for mankind _everywhere_, and we're asking for and need your help to do it!"

Gabriel gave him a few minutes to think it through until finally Ash looked up and said, "Ugh! Fine, I know I'm going to regret this, but fine, what do you need?"

Cas and Gabriel breathed a huge sigh of relief then Gabriel replied, "Just something important to you that represents your consent."

"Damn Gabe!" Ash replied, "It's gotta be _important_ to me too? You guys are killing me!"

Gabriel laughed and said, "I think you've already been there and done that buddy."

Ash got up and went behind the bar and asked the angels, "Would you consider this a party or more of a business transaction gentlemen?"

Knowing exactly where Ash was going with this, Gabriel laughed again and said, "Whichever means more to ya Doc."

Ash then grabbed a pair of scissors and snipped a lock of hair from the back of his head. "All business up front," then flipped his hair with his fingers, "and a party in the back!"

* * *

Neither Sam nor Dean had said a word about the previous evening's events as they drove to Atlantic City. Dean because, well that was just Dean. Sam because, unlike his brother, he still needed sleep and it was damn near 5:00 am by the time the police showed up to haul that guy off to jail. As the cops were leading him out of the apartment building, Sam and Dean could hear the guy tell them that he had shot a man with solid black eyes who just stood there afterwards like nothing happened. However, when the cops asked him if he was confessing to an attempted murder on top of the murder he had already confessed to, the guy just shut up again and ducked into the car. Dean laughed hysterically, Sam didn't think it _quite _as funny, but still laughed just the same.

About 30 miles outside Atlantic City, Sam finally woke up as Dean stopped for gas. Thankfully he had found a relatively clean gas station so Sam used the facilities and freshened up by splashing water on his face and then running his wet fingers through his hair, the shower would have to wait for the motel. As they got back on the road again it didn't take long for Sam to broach the subject.

"So, are we going to talk about it?"

"Nope," was Dean's limited response.

"Dean, we have to talk about it at some point," Sam insisted.

After the previous evening's events, Dean knew his fuse was short, but he also knew Sam would need some kind of response before he would leave it alone.

"Alright Sam, I'm going to explain why we're not going to talk about it and then you're going to shut up about it until this job is over, got it?"

"OK, I'm all ears," Sam said.

"Actually, you're all hair, but that's beside the point," Dean said, laughing at his own joke. "Anyway, you saw how I was back at that apartment; you saw how hard I was fighting to stay on the right side of things," Sam assured him that he had, "Well, the same thing happened with Metatron too, but I was able to get through that one by myself because Metatron was only the first kill I was passing on. Even though I _really_ wanted to kill that sonofabitch, Cas needed his grace back, so I couldn't do it. But last night? If you hadn't been there Sam, that murderer was as good as dead because he was the _second _kill I was passing on, understand?"

Sam was beginning to get it now and said, "Yeah, I think so."

"Good. Now, I'm not proud of it, but I guess these are the things you need to know if we're gonna roll together again. Before all this, when I was on my own, I had to be real sure there weren't any humans around when I went on a hunt. I didn't trust myself, and that's the reason why. Like I told you back at the bunker, the Mark craves death Sam, I _have _to kill now, so when I pass on _two_ kills… Let's just say we need to get to AC and kill this dickbag real quick! That's what I have to focus on Sam, not this couples counseling bullshit, OK?"

Sam agreed and didn't press any further. He _had _seen how his brother had struggled, and now he understood why. He also made a mental note that this hunt needed to be as well planned as any hunt could be, keeping humans out of the way as much as possible, and giving Dean the kill. So he got his laptop out to look over the files again while Dean looked for a motel.

After they got settled into their room Sam asked, "It's Friday right?"

Dean was pouring himself a drink to settle his nerves and replied, "I don't know man, my days all run together now, why?"

Sam double checked the calendar on his laptop and said, "Bingo! Each assault took place on either a Friday or Sunday. Judging by this guy's pattern so far, it looks like he'll be searching for a new vic somewhere north of the 3200 block of Cheshire Street, tonight!"

"Well thank God for small favors. Anything new from the cops?" Dean asked finishing his drink and pouring another.

"Nope, you'd think three sexual assaults reported in the same area might raise some eyebrows, but with this being Atlantic City I guess it got overlooked, and besides, they think these assaults were all done by different perps."

Sam hesitated to bring up the next topic on his agenda, but then again, they rarely had to tip-toe around job-related conversations before. However, Dean had picked up on his hesitation and beat him to the punch.

"Whatever it is you want to say, just stow it Sam. I told you earlier that I don't want to talk about last night anymore, let's just work the job."

"No, this isn't about last night. I get it man, and whatever I can do to help so that you don't ever have to go through that again, I'm right there for ya," Sam said.

"Huh, well thanks, but if this isn't about last night, then what is it?" Dean asked.

"Well it's related to last night," then he saw his brother start to argue so he quickly finished the sentence, "but it's _about_ the job tonight! I just think we need to come up with a plan to limit the possibility of any civilian casualties."

Dean thought about that for a second then said, "OK, what did you have in mind?"

That hit Sam a little off guard. Although it wasn't the first time, it was pretty rare for Dean not to take the lead on a job. It also pointed out just how shaken his brother really was.

"Pretty cut and dried actually," Sam said, "how 'bout you check out the sewers for the shifter while I scope things out topside for potential vics. We can then stay in touch by cell for updates."

"Sounds good," Dean said and then looked out the window, "It's almost dark now, time to get this show on the road!"

Dean opened his duffle bag and loaded two gun clips with silver bullets and tossed one onto the bed next to Sam, along with one of the silver knives they each had for backup. Sam checked the cellphone batteries and entered their phone numbers and an address near the area where they were headed.

"Hey," Dean said nodding towards the phones, "is that how you tracked me to that dude's place last night?"

Sam let out a small laugh and said, "Don't beat yourself up, you weren't exactly thinking straight."

"Or," Dean paused, "maybe I was! Ever think of that hotshot?" Dean asked punching his brother on the shoulder and then zipping up his bag. Whether Dean had done it consciously or not didn't matter, Sam felt a lot better knowing his brother at least knew when to say when, for now anyway.

Sam reached for his gun on the table next to the bed. Then, almost in concert with each other, they each grabbed their clips and tapped them on the butts of their guns, then slid the clips inside and immediately loaded a round into the chamber. They slipped the guns into their waistbands behind their backs, then grabbed their silver knives and slid them into the inside pockets of their jackets.

Once they were ready Dean walked towards the door but with one hand on the doorknob he looked at Sam and said, "I swear, sometimes I think I hate sexual assaults more than murders. This guy doesn't hurt one more lady Sammy, he doesn't see one more day, got it?"

"Right there with ya," Sam replied, then they headed out to the Impala waiting patiently for them just outside.


	12. Chapter Twelve

A/N: Welcome back! Sorry it's taken me so long to post a new chapter! The move really kicked me in the butt and my health has suffered. I'm ok-ish now, and I'm really happy to present you with the next chapter! I hope you continue to enjoy as this down time has given me lots of time to ruminate on where I'm going next! There's of course no way to prove this, but the spoilers we got out of ComicCon and TCA are eerily similar in some aspects of what's to come and different in others, so I'm eager to share where I'm going! This will end the current arc of the story as a new one begins to take shape! Now, enough of my jabbering, let's get to the story, and if you're still enjoying it, please consider leaving a comment below!

* * *

Finally, after everything they had been through to get here; discovering Dean was a demon, Cas almost dying, Gabriel coming out of the shadows and diminishing his own grace so Cas could live, breaking Metatron out of prison, almost being thrown in prison themselves, and literally searching heaven and earth for all the right ingredients, Cas and Gabriel were _finally_ ready to attempt the spells to restore the angels' wings and open the gates of heaven. They gathered their spices and herbs, feathers and items of "consent" from man and heaven, and a centuries-old angelic spell bowl they received from Hannah as an extra measure of sucking up, and made their way to a staging area just inside the holy gates. The irony of a runaway and a rebel trying to restore the very place they had run from and rebelled against was not lost on either of them. In fact, it was almost poetic that _this _task fell to _these _angels, and although they'd never admit it out loud, in the confines of their own minds, they each hoped a case for redemption might be made as well.

As a result of Gabriel's run-in with Hannah, Cas decided it best that he radio ahead to let her know they were about to perform the spells so she could then tell the angels they should isolate themselves away from humans within the next thirty minutes. With Enochian being the flowery language it was, it would take Gabriel at least that long just to get through the preamble. Once they arrived at their destination, they sat solemnly for a moment, saying a silent prayer to an absent Father. Then Gabriel began the incantation.

* * *

It was after 9:00 pm when Sam and Dean made their way to the 3200 block of Cheshire Street and parked the Impala nearby. They wished each other luck and Sam began walking the neighborhood while Dean found his entry to the sewer system below ground.

"Damn!" Dean said covering his nose with the crook of his elbow, "Why can't they ever find a house to squat in or _something_?" He then turned on his flashlight and with no idea which direction to go he began walking to his right hoping he would discover where the shifter was holed up soon. But, luck was rarely on Dean's side and tonight would prove to be no exception. After about a half hour of finding nothing he doubled back and began searching in the other direction. Eventually he came to the end of that tunnel and had to turn right or left. He turned left and a few minutes later he thought he heard a noise behind him. He quickly grabbed the gun behind his back and turned around, pointing the flashlight everywhere but seeing nothing there.

"Great, I'm wound so tight I'm hearing things now," he said as he turned back around and continued moving forward. A few minutes later the flashlight found something on the ground ahead. He stashed the gun, pulled out his knife and squat down to examine the shifter's discarded skin, "That shit grosses me out every-damn-time," he said, letting the skin slide off the knife and drop back to the ground. He then pointed the flashlight ahead and said, "But I gotcha now you creepy little bastard."

Feeling more confident now that he was on the right trail he stood up again, but suddenly felt a sharp pain hit the side of his head and immediately lost consciousness.

* * *

While scoping out the neighborhood, looking for potential victims, Sam saw a beautiful young woman dragging a trashcan to the curb. A perfect victim, he thought, noting there probably wasn't a "man of the house" to take the garbage out for her. Knowing that it was pretty damn sexist of him to think that way didn't make it any less true and besides, she may very well thank him for that sexist thought later. Most of the other houses on the block had two cars in their driveways or garages, except for a few whose garage doors were closed. Sam checked those homes closely, looking into windows as he passed by and usually saw more than one person inside and no suspicious activity. The previous victims were all home alone when they were attacked so he felt reasonably sure those homes were safe. Sam then found a spot at the end of the block where he could closely watch the single woman's house, but also had a good view down the street to see if anyone left.

* * *

Dean eventually came to consciousness, felt around for the flashlight and checked his watch; his best guess was that he had been out for at least 15 minutes. He rubbed the side of his head and felt the half-dried blood from a wound that had already healed and wondered why the shifter had just left him there. The answer came a few seconds later when he saw a newly shed skin beside him. Most likely, the shifter looked like him now and had his thoughts; it knew who he was and more importantly, _what _he was, so it also knew there wasn't any point in trying to restrain him.

"Sam!" he said searching his pockets for his phone and finding it was gone, along with his wallet, fake ID, and weapons.

* * *

From Sam's perch he looked down the street through his spyglass and noticed a man walking up to the single woman's house. "What the hell?" he asked himself as he reached for his phone.

"Hey Sammy," the shifter answered.

"What are you doing? You're supposed to be underground!"

"Relax little brother," the shifter said, "I already found his hideout, where I also happened to find a picture of a woman with this address on the back, so I decided to come up and warn her."

"Dean, we agreed that _I_ would handle things like this to keep you away from civilians, remember?" Sam asked.

The shifter reached up to his forehead and replied, "Yeah, I remember, but I'm fine and this should only take a minute. Just keep watching the neighborhood in case he decides to switch vics."

The phone went dead and Sam kept a close eye on the scene unfolding before him. The shifter rang the bell and flashed his ID when the woman answered the door. Everything looked pretty routine until…

"Oh shit!" Sam shouted as he shoved the spyglass into his jacket and quickly raced to the house he thought his brother had just walked into.

Sam urgently knocked on the door and waited until the same woman answered and said, "You must be Agent Stanley."

"Yes ma'am, is Agent Simmons here?" Sam asked.

"Yes, please come in," she said as she led him to the living room. "I can't thank the two of you enough for alerting me to a potential attacker in the neighborhood! I was just about to make some coffee for your partner, would you care for some as well?"

"Yes ma'am, thank you. And please, take your time." Sam said.

After she had left the room Sam walked up to the man in front of him and said, "What the hell Dean? You should have called me about this and stayed underground!"

The shifter paused for a moment and with a chilling voice he replied, "That guy's not down there anymore Sam."

The sick feeling in the pit of Sam's stomach came about a half-second too late as the shifter was already in mid-swing. A split second later, the room went dark as Sam fell to the floor.

* * *

Gabriel continued the incantation, adding the spices and herbs to the ancient angelic spell-bowl at the proper moments, and in the proper order. The feathers representing every angel born to the heavenly host were next and as Gabriel nodded to Castiel, they released their angel blades and sliced their forearms to add their blood to the mix. Then it was time for the final ingredients.

Gabriel added the lock of Ash's hair representing the "consent of man" which was immediately followed by a thunderous rumble they first heard, and then felt rolling throughout heaven. Cas held the bowl to keep it from toppling over as Gabriel then sliced off part of the apple representing the "consent of heaven" and added that the bowl as well resulting in a fierce show of lightning that crackled all around them. With a few final words the spell was complete and the thunder roared louder and the lightening became a heavenly show that must have been witnessed all over creation.

Suddenly, a crippling pain came over both Cas and Gabriel as they both fell to the ground thrashing about and trying to stifle their screams. It was unlike anything either of them had ever felt before and it only became more intense until they could no longer hold back their cries. They lay on the ground, writhing in pain, terrified that what they feared most was coming true. Metatron must have plotted this all along, the torment and eventual death of all angels, his final revenge.

* * *

Dean continued to search for the shifter's hide-out, eventually finding it by following the skins it had shed. He searched what little was there hoping to find something that would tell him where it had gone. Eventually he found a cigar box stashed under a disgusting looking mattress, if you could call it that. The box held small mementos: a ticket to a ball game, a chain of paper clips, a rabbit's foot that wouldn't be bringing him any luck tonight, he thought, and some pictures. He dropped the box and everything in it except the pictures. They looked to be "before" and "after" shots of its previous victims and as he sifted through each one his blood started to boil and the hatred began to swell.

There was one picture, however, that didn't seem to have a matching "after" shot. "Well now, who are you?" he asked the picture, then turned it around and found an address on the back. That was all he needed to know and in an instant Dean vanished as the picture slowly fell to the ground.

* * *

Sam came to consciousness and found himself tied up and laying on the floor. He looked around and saw through the windows that a storm was brewing outside. Then he saw the shifter, still looking like Dean, by the front door painting something on the floor with a can of spray-paint.

"What the hell are you doing?" he asked struggling to get free of the ropes binding him.

The shifter looked at Sam and said, "Just making sure your brother can't get any further than the front door." Then he pointed towards the kitchen and said, "There's one at the back door too, in case you're worried," then it went back to work on the details of the devil's trap Sam assumed he must have found in Dean's memories.

"Where's the woman that lives here?" Sam asked.

"Oh her? She and I needed a little quality time together, but she's bound and gagged upstairs for the time being."

"You sonofabitch! What did you do to her?" Sam asked, pissed off it might have hurt her and trying even harder to wrangle his way out of the ropes.

"Relax, we didn't have time for much, I figured your brother would be here sooner rather than later," the shifter replied.

Sam was tied tightly enough to feel that the shifter had taken his weapons, but while it was finishing the trap, he struggled to curl his feet up to his hands behind him to feel for the knife he kept in his boot. He eventually got to it, but his hands were bound so tight and the rope was so thick, he knew this was going to take a while.

Trying to distract the shifter into making a mistake Sam said, "Dean's not going to fall for that."

"Oh I think he will. See, I have all of his thoughts right here," the shifter said pointing to its temple. "First he's going to wonder where the little woman is, then, without being able to see her, he won't be able to risk just appearing out of nowhere, so he'll have no choice but to come right through one of these doors. Oh, and I've got salt on all the windowsills too, just in case."

Sam continued working on the rope as the shifter continued working on the trap, and his monologue.

"I really don't know why you two are hunting me. I'm not a killer, not like the other monsters you hunt. I just need a little affection every once in a while, just like everyone else. Just like your own brother if his memory serves me, which it does. And just like him, I leave them alive when I'm done," he said as he inspected and then covered the trap with an area rug from the living room.

Sam was looking out the window and noticed that although the lightning and thunder was picking up, oddly enough there seemed to be no rain. Then he returned to the conversation and said, "Somehow I don't think your victims will mind too much when we end you."

The shifter walked over and squat down next to Sam, forcing him to stop working on the rope, "Fortunately for me, I don't think you'll be getting that chance. I imagine your bother is going to listen to what I have to say."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Sam replied.

The shifter sighed as he stood back up again, "If you only knew the secrets he was keeping from you little brother!"

"First he'll tell me when he's ready, and second, I'm NOT your brother you sick, _demented_ piece of…"

"Shit," they both said at the same time, "I'm well aware of what you and your brother think of me. Speaking of which, I got news for you, that's exactly what he's planning on telling you too: jack shit!" He then pulled a dining room chair into the living room and sat down as the lightning and thunder continued raging outside.

* * *

The pain the angels were enduring was almost unfathomable at this point and only getting worse as it then began to separate into two distinct pains now, crawling up their backs until it finally stopped between their shoulders. Almost all at once the angels began daring to hope as they felt something pushing against their skin from the inside. They felt the first tearing of their skin, and then another as the spines of the wingspans burst out of their backs with an immense sting. The feathers then began crawling out, attached to the spine, breathing air for the first time and feeling worse than a man-o-war's tentacles. Each feather brought new torture, but it was _working_! Then rows of feathers began cascading down as the angels continued to cry out in a strange combination of pain and euphoria.

Cas and Gabriel were bearing the torment, hunched over but trying to stand as they started to push the wings out further and quicker, until their anguish finally began to ease. Standing tall and facing each other now, they pushed the last remaining feathers from their backs, laughing through the pain yet enjoying every second of it until finally, the lightning and thunder began to fade and all that was left was the brilliantly bright heavenly white emanating from their new wings.

"You did it brother!" Cas said.

"WE did it brother!" Gabriel replied as they embraced and laughed at their shocking success.

* * *

Dean reappeared in their motel room five miles away and walked straight to the safe and opened it up. "Come to Daddy sweetheart," he said as he grabbed the First Blade and then quickly disappeared again.

Showing up this time just outside the woman's house, he looked inside the window to assess the situation and saw Sam tied up and lying on the floor with the shifter dragging a chair into the living room. It was always damn strange seeing an exact replica of yourself, he thought, then he went about trying to decide the best way to enter the room. The guy had to know what he was by now and exactly what he could do, so how would he try to get around it? And where was the woman that lived here? He tried to peer around the edges of the window without being seen, but there were just too many places she could be where she'd see him if he just appeared in the room. "Dammit! Friggin' humans always gettin' in the way!" he said thinking of all the hunts he went on while he was on his own.

* * *

Sam was still working on the rope when he said, "You've got to know you're not going to live through this."

"Maybe not," the shifter said, "but I'd put my chances at about 50/50. One thing's for sure though, if I would've just taken off you guys would've just tracked me down, and with these skills," the shifter tapped its temple again, "there's no way I'd survive that! No, better to trap him and propose my offer," the shifter said as he sat down in the dining room chair he dragged over to wait for Dean.

Almost on cue, the front door burst open and before Sam could warn him, Dean walked right into the devil's trap and hit an invisible wall.

"Dammit!" Dean said evaluating the situation, seeing Sam still tied up on the floor, and realizing too late that of course the woman was nowhere to be seen.

"Dean, so glad you could make it," the shifter said.

Dean brought on the smirk and said, "Oh, I don't think you'll be feeling that way for long."

"No need to get nasty," the shifter replied, "Your brother's still alive, and the woman that lives here is too, so let's all take a deep breath and just talk for a few minutes, shall we?"

"Sammy, you ok?" Dean asked.

"Peachy," Sam said giving a coded response meaning he'd be fine soon enough.

Dean took that to mean Sam was working his way through the ropes and would be free soon.

"Satisfied? He's fine," the Shifter said.

"All that means is I can kill you quick rather than enjoying myself a little, though I gotta tell ya, after those pictures I found, I may just take my time anyway."

As chilling as that was, the shifter decided it best to ignore that remark and simply replied, "I've got a deal for you Dean."

Dean paced around in the confining devil's trap then said, "What exactly do we look like here, a crossroads demon? I don't make deals."

"No," the shifter said as Sam was almost through the ropes, "you're not, we both know what you are don't we?" The shifter paused to make sure the point had been taken, but just to make sure, he said, "Oh, and Sam does too, right? So there's no secrets among friends here."

Just about then Dean was wishing he'd told Sam everything as Sam darted his eyes over to look straight into his own. In fact, Sam had just finished cutting through the ropes but hadn't yet moved a muscle, waiting to see exactly where this verbal standoff was heading.

"That's right," Dean said, "what's your point?"

"I think my point is clear, but the deal is this: you're gonna let me walk away," the shifter said as he walked over to Sam then knelt down and lifted him up by the hair, "and Sammy here, gets to keep being sweet, clueless, breathing Sammy. Otherwise, he dies right now!"

Sam could feel the shifter starting to lift a knife up to his throat so he could no longer pretend to be bound. He head-butted the shifter behind him so hard he must have broken its nose on impact then it fell straight back to the floor. Sam then flew over to the devil's trap, pulled the rug up, and scratched the border with his knife until Dean was free.

Dean immediately disappeared while the shifter tried to scramble up to run away. He then reappeared right next to it and grabbed the hair on its head with his left hand as he reached behind his back for the Blade with his right.

"How many people do you suppose get the chance to actually kill themselves, twice?" he asked before stabbing the shifter in the gut, then twisting the Blade around, pulling it out and stabbing him again, savoring the pain he was inflicting as he then sliced its gut open from side to side. As its blood drenched the Blade, the Mark burned with satisfaction while Dean then slit its throat clean through, watching the life fade from its eyes as its body fell to the floor with Dean still holding its head in his hands.

Dean flung the head aside and turned around to see his brother still on the floor next the devil's trap. "You ok?" he asked.

"Fine, you?" Sam asked getting up off the floor.

Dean just smiled and said, "Couldn't be better! But, ya know? I really need to learn to take better care of myself!"

Sam just shook his head at the pun, then Dean asked, "Where the hell is the lady that lives here anyway?"

"She's upstairs, I'll take care of her while you go… take care of yourself."

Dean just laughed at the continued play on words.

* * *

Still reeling from the ordeal they had just suffered, Cas and Gabriel were surprised to hear a commotion coming from the other side of the gates. As they wearily went to investigate, they noticed one by one, angels from all over the world were beginning to gather at the other side of the gates, celebrating, shaking hands, and embracing each other in a camaraderie that hadn't been seen or felt in centuries. As touched as he was by the moment, Cas needed to focus and concentrate on the next spell. He looked to Gabriel for help but only heard him say, "Don't look at me brother, this one is all you, I'm spent!"

Cas was every bit as exhausted as Gabriel, but with the angels gathering, he didn't see any choice but to press on.

"Everyone! May I have your attention please?!" Cas yelled, but no one could hear him over the din of excitement so he tried again by broadcasting his voice over angel radio. "Brothers and Sisters, those at the gates of heaven and those making their way here, may I have your attention please?" The angels began settling down as Cas continued, "Thank you! For those that cannot see me, this is Castiel speaking with the archangel Gabriel beside me," The angels began murmuring amongst themselves, "Please, I know you are unhappy with us for our part in what happened to Metatron; however, I assure you it was all necessary in order to bring you here today in the manner in which you are arriving. Gabriel has given you new wings today, and I will soon attempt to open the gates so you can all return home! In order to do so, I must ask for silence, and dare I ask, your support as well, while I try to restore our home to its former glory."

The angels looked around and in the same moment hundreds of angels knelt down on one or both knees and bowed their heads in silence. Moved beyond words, Cas was overcome and thought to himself, if this wasn't the moment, there surely never would be.

Gabriel, kneeling himself now, looked up to his younger brother and asked, "Well? What are waiting for?"

Cas nodded then rested his chin on his chest as he stretched his new wings to their limit and began the incantation. However, this time around, fewer than a dozen words of Enochian were needed as the key was in Cas' grace rather than the chant itself. Cas moved forward as he spoke the few words and stopped just short of the impenetrable gates and gave voice to the final syllable. He then laid both hands on the lock which in turn absorbed the essence of his being. Through the stillness of silence the angles held their collective breath after hearing the faintest click. Not knowing if Castiel had succeeded, or failed yet again, they watched their brother pause and then grab the gates with both hands, pulled them open and fell to his knees in his own astonishment. As the angels cheered and began moving towards the gates, Gabriel rushed to get to his brother first and put his arm around him, protecting him as the heavenly host clamored to enter their home for the first time in over a year.

"Please tell me you're OK!" Gabriel said.

Cas stood right back up again, looking at his older brother and just said, "Couldn't be better!"

* * *

After Sam had given the woman some almost-believable story he concocted, and Dean disposed of the body, they got into the Impala and drove out of town. Dean was quick to find a nice spot off a country road and next to an empty field where they could pull over to share a couple of beers. Dean grabbed the green cooler out of the back as Sam climbed out and sat on the hood. Dean passed a beer to his brother as he leaned against the headlights. They razzed each other and stared at the stars and just enjoyed the post-hunt moment as they always did.

However, Sam's mind was also thinking about what the shifter said about Dean not planning on telling him what was really going on. So he decided to do what he always does and started with a softball question, "Well, is the Mark satisfied?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, for now anyway," Dean said still looking up at the sky, hoping that would be the end of it, but knowing full well it wouldn't. He was right on the money of course when Sam soon asked his next question.

"Dean, I don't want to push like I did back at the hotel the other night, but I think it's time, don't you?"

Being the smartass he was Dean asked, "Time for what?"

"Dean, come on, you're my brother, and you've got to know by now that there's nothing you can't tell me, nothing that we can't deal with together! It's time to tell me the truth Dean. It's time to tell me what the shifter was hinting at, and it's time to tell me what Crowley told you, the things you can do now, and what you really are. Come on man, just talk to me."

Dean took a long swig of his beer and then turned to look at his brother, making his case, and making a lot of sense.

"Whatever it is, I can handle it. If that's what's holding you back, don't let it. Besides, I _have_ to know everything if I'm going to help you. You've waited long enough and you should be able to see by now, I'm going to stick by you no matter what. So let's just get it out there – what are you not telling me?"

Dean looked down at his feet, took another swig of his beer and looked back up at the stars. When he couldn't stall any longer he looked at his brother and said, "OK Sammy, you're right, _IF_ you're gonna help me out of this, you're gonna need to know everything."


End file.
